Yatofu is a design studio founded in Helsinki in 2017, currently operating in both Helsinki and Shanghai. Taking care of intellectual property rights and protecting and defending one’s own creative work are essential in the studio’s creative practice. Together with Berggren, Yatofu successfully resolved an unexpected dispute. Expert legal assistance and emotional support were key factors in navigating a challenging conflict situation.
Yatofu’s founders, Angela Lindhal and Yihan Xiang, originally met at Aalto University, where they completed their master’s degrees in interior architecture. Already during their studies, they worked together on freelance projects. After both had officially graduated, they began collaborating more closely and founded their own company, Yatofu.
– The Helsinki office was opened in 2017 and the Shanghai office in 2020. We work on both public and private projects. In Finland, we mainly design various commercial spaces – shops, restaurants, cafés and offices, Angela summarises.
Before their master’s studies, neither Angela nor Yihan had lived in Finland, nor did either of them yet have, for example, a family in the country. Founding a company in a foreign country immediately after graduation required a great deal of courage.
– We were young, newly graduated international students in a foreign country and not very experienced. Starting a company was a real “bold move”. Perhaps it was even a bit naïve, Yihan recalls with a smile.
That courage clearly paid off. Over the years, Yatofu has grown and developed significantly. One of the keys to its success has been not only Yatofu’s holistic process, but also empathy and a genuine desire to help and understand the client.
Yatofu’s projects often require seamless collaboration between several parties, and as a rule, industry professionals and partners work together in good mutual understanding, supporting one another. Joint projects are also significant achievements for those involved. Generally, processes have run smoothly and all parties have been very satisfied with the outcomes.
On one occasion, however, Yatofu encountered an unexpected situation in which another party claimed that they had acted unlawfully.
– We received a very aggressive message containing numerous demands that we felt were completely unfounded and unreasonable, Angela recalls.
The arrival of the message understandably left Angela and Yihan deeply unsettled. The client had been very satisfied with the final outcome of the project and the project itself had been a success. Moreover, Angela and Yihan knew that they had done nothing wrong.
– Finland is a small country and we want to support other professionals. At the same time, we must ensure that our own rights are upheld, Yihan and Angela emphasise.
Despite everything, Angela and Yihan wanted to respond in a friendly manner and aim for constructive dialogue. This, however, did not lead to the desired outcome, and they realised they would not be able to resolve the matter without external help.
– At that point, we knew we needed a legal expert. We asked for recommendations within our closest networks. Berggren was recommended to us as the leading IPR expert in Finland. We contacted Berggren’s Emilia Hodge, Angela recalls.
Berggren’s expert Emilia Hodge familiarised herself thoroughly with the case and helped Angela and Yihan move forward towards the desired resolution. As a result of the process, the other party withdrew all of its claims.
Both Angela and Yihan are very grateful for the assistance and emotional support they received from Emilia. They both felt that Emilia truly understood their concerns and wanted to resolve the situation.
– Emilia was incredibly kind and genuinely interested in the case. It was like a puzzle she wanted to solve. She explained everything we needed in great detail. Emilia carried out thorough background research. She also took into account that we are a smaller company and focused only on what was sensible and most important. Sometimes it can feel like a lawyer just wants to bill more hours. That was not the case with Emilia – she genuinely wanted to help us and use time wisely, Angela says.
– Emilia was very empathetic and considerate. She understood that we are young entrepreneurs in Finland who needed help. She offered us important support in a difficult situation, Yihan describes.
Protecting one’s own creative work and rights is important in the creative industries as well. Using a legal advisor is often also a financial consideration for a company, but Yihan and Angela feel that in this case it was absolutely worthwhile.
Yihan Xiang ja Angela Lindhal, Yatofu
– Agreeing to unreasonable demands would have been a major loss for us, so it was important that the matter was resolved in the right way, Angela says.
The entire dispute-related process was an important learning experience for Yatofu, with Berggren acting as a key source of support.
– Going forward, we will focus even more on applying the lessons we have learned. We want to do everything diligently, take care of our rights and ensure that collaboration between different parties remains constructive, Yihan and Angela conclude.
Our client experience story has been independently produced by Kokemuksia.fi. Each story has been approved by the interviewed client, and the company featured has had no opportunity to influence the content of the story.