Congratulations to Liina Jents on the Title of Managing Associate

We are pleased to congratulate our experienced colleague on her new title! Liina Jents will now hold the role of Managing Associate. We asked her about her thoughts and goals related to the new position.

In which field of law are you currently working?

My daily work focuses on intellectual property, primarily trademark, design, and copyright matters. I advise clients on strategic planning — such as building intellectual property portfolios and registering rights — as well as drafting and negotiating all kinds of agreements. In addition, I represent clients in disputes, including trademark and design cases, both in opposition proceedings and in court. In the field of IT law, I mainly deal with contracts and advisory work related to software solutions and digital services.

What attracts me to this work is that every day is different — one day it’s a dispute, the next it’s a strategic decision, a new business model, or a complex contract negotiation. It’s precisely this variety and the chance to create something genuinely valuable for the client that keeps me motivated and striving to give my best every day.

What has your journey to this new title been like?

My interest in intellectual property began during my university studies when Professor Heiki Pisuke involved me in an intellectual property project. That was the first time I had the chance to truly immerse myself in topics that resonated with me. I continued along this path, later earning a master’s degree in European Intellectual Property Law from Stockholm University.

I’ve always been fascinated by trademarks — a field where creativity, strategy, and business intersect. However, in practice, I quickly encountered a limitation: as a sworn attorney, I couldn’t do everything that the world of intellectual property required. Once you had your bar qualification, you had to choose — either stay a sworn attorney or become a patent attorney. Together with colleagues, we helped bring about a legal amendment that finally allowed sworn attorneys to sit for the patent attorney examination. When that opportunity came, I passed the exam in the fields of trademarks and designs. That was over five years ago now, and to this day, I remain the only sworn attorney in Estonia to have passed that exam.

It’s always been important for me to understand what kind of support businesses truly expect from legal services and how it fits into their day-to-day operations. That’s why I stepped away from law firm work for a while and joined CARIAD, a software company within the Volkswagen Group. That gave me valuable firsthand experience of the technology world inside the automotive industry and broadened my understanding of how legal issues — especially those related to intellectual property — are connected to a company’s daily decisions, processes, and strategies.

Along the way, I’ve had the good fortune of working with excellent colleagues. I am sincerely grateful to my team — their support, collaboration, and wisdom have meant a great deal on this journey. And of course — I’m deeply thankful to my family, who have always stood by my side, encouraged me, and supported me, even when the workload was intense or the goals ambitious.

What have been the biggest challenges in your career?

The biggest challenge has certainly been the process of qualifying as a patent attorney — from initiating the legal amendment to successfully passing the exam.

The fields of intellectual property and information technology often move faster than legislation can keep up, which means finding solutions in new and still-evolving situations. In practice, it’s also both challenging and rewarding to help businesses protect their creations and brands in markets where copying remains a common issue. In such situations, you have to be creative, strategic, and, when necessary, highly persistent.

Training others has also become a very important and personally meaningful part of my work — I enjoy sharing knowledge and getting audiences to think along. Recently, I ran a seminar with a good colleague, and one participant wrote afterward:

“As an educator, I immediately noticed — these are people who do their work with purpose. They genuinely care that their listeners understand everything. A sincere and inspiring presentation that truly touched me.”

That feedback moved me deeply. It confirmed for me that when you do your work with passion, it resonates with people. And it’s that knowledge that keeps me striving to give my best every day.

What would you still like to do in your field?

I wish to continue developing the field and help businesses truly understand the value of intellectual property — and to protect it consciously and strategically.

One of my big goals was to qualify not only as an intellectual property lawyer but also as a patent attorney, so I could work in this field in a comprehensive way. I’ve been genuinely happy about how warmly the patent attorney community has welcomed me. I also want to actively encourage young lawyers to join the intellectual property field — whether their goal is to become an IP attorney, a patent attorney, or both. I hope to support the next generation and contribute to growing a new wave of smart, aware, and dedicated intellectual property specialists in Estonia.