Foundation Board 2025

The Board of the Invention Foundation is appointed by three entities: the Central Association of Inventors (KeKe), the Finnish Patent Attorneys Association (SPAY), and the Federation of Finnish Enterprises (SY). The Board’s term begins after the annual meeting and continues until the next annual meeting.

Juhani Talvela Member of the Board, Chairman. In addition to the Invention Foundation, Talvela is also involved in the board of the Runar Backström Foundation, among others. Techn.lis. Talvela is an experienced entrepreneur and innovation developer. After working as an ICT entrepreneur for a long time, Talvela gave up the companies he founded through a corporate acquisition in 2013. He also works in EU positions and participates, for example, in the evaluation of EIC Transition and EIC Accelerator funding applications of the European Innovation Council and in making funding decisions. Talvela’s research work at Aalto University and LUT University is related to the capabilities of innovators and small businesses in producing, protecting and utilizing technology management and creative capital

Petri Peltonen hallituksen jäsen ja säätiön varapuheenjohtaja. Peltonen on porvoolainen matemaatikko ja keksijä, joka on työskennellyt yrittäjänä ja palkansaajana yli kymmenellä eri toimialalla. Peltosella myös on pitkä järjestökokemus politiikasta ja kristillisistä järjestöistä. Vuodesta 2015 lähtien hän toiminut Keksijäin Keskusliiton puheenjohtajana. Koulutukseltaan Peltonen on filosofian maisteri, tekee väitöskirjaa eläkejärjestelmän oikeudenmukaisuudesta filosofian ja vakuutusmatematiikan välimaastossa.
Hän sanoo pitävänsä enemmän keksimisestä kuin hallinnosta, mutta ” joutuu silti aina hallintohommiin”. Toisaalta Peltosen mielestä sodassa voittaa tyypillisesti se, jolla on toimivampi hallinto, mukaan lukien huolto ja logistiikka. Siksi hänen tavoitteenaan onkin järjestää Keksintösäätiölle selkeä hallinto, vahva rahoituspohja ja tehokas rahanjakopolitiikka.

Petri Peltonen is a member of the board and vice-chairman of the foundation. Peltonen is a mathematician and inventor from Porvoo who has worked as an entrepreneur and employee in over ten different industries. Peltonen also has extensive organizational experience in politics and Christian organizations. Since 2015, he has served as the chairman of the Finnish Inventors’ Association. Peltonen holds a Master of Philosophy degree and is writing a dissertation on the fairness of the pension system in the field between philosophy and actuarial mathematics. He says that he enjoys inventing more than administration, but “still always finds himself in administrative work”. On the other hand, Peltonen believes that in a war, the one with the most functional administration, including maintenance and logistics, typically wins. Therefore, his goal is to organize a clear administration, a strong funding base and an efficient money distribution policy for the Invention Foundation.

Sari Merilampi is a deputy member of the board.

Merilampi works as a research professor and a leading researcher at the RoboAIHealth Research Center at Satakunta University of Applied Sciences and is an associate professor at the Faculty of Information Technology and Communications at the University of Tampere. Sari holds a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and a Doctor of Technology. Sari has many years of experience in customer-oriented development and research of various wellness and health technology innovations, as well as cross-sector collaboration. Sari’s research topics include usability and user experience, wellness games, and applications of radio frequency identification technology in the wellness sector.

Martti Ollila, deputy member of the board.

Ollila has views on how the foundation’s activities would best help small and medium-sized enterprises. There would be a lot of new things that could be done to get a large number of citizens involved in investing, patents and product development. Finns are active in gambling and other gambling. Ollila proposes this idea because the threshold must be low enough to be able to participate as an investor in inventions. “You don’t always win the lottery, but you want to be involved.”

Tord Langenskiöld

Member of the Board. Tord Langenskiöld holds a degree in chemistry and moved to the patent industry in 1995 after 13 years in development positions in the pharmaceutical industry. Until 2019, he worked as a patent attorney at Ruska & Co Oy, Jalo Ant-Wuorinen Oy, where he was also the CEO, and Seppo Laine Oy. In his work, he handled patent matters in chemistry, process technology and mechanics, and participated in oral proceedings at the European Patent Office and several patent trials. Langenskiöld also served actively for several years on the board of the Finnish Invention Foundation.

Jaana Rantanen

Deputy Board Member. Rantanen works as Startup and Network Manager at Business Finland, focusing mainly on sparring with research-based startups and developing services. Rantanen holds a Master of Science in Chemistry and has experience in research and product development in both the corporate and academic worlds, as well as extensive experience in supporting inventions and developing innovation activities at the Finnish Innovation Foundation, the Finnish Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment and Tekes.

Kristian Luoto

Member of the Board. Kristian started his patent attorney career in 1982 as a newly graduated M.Sc. (Eng.), which continues to this day. He spent a 17-year interlude in industry at Nokia Research Center and NSN, where he was responsible for invention processes. Today, he serves domestic clients within Sonkis Oy.

Marjut Honkasalo

Deputy Board Member. Marjut Honkasalo is a M.Sc. (Econ.) and a European Patent Attorney with industrial experience and over 25 years of experience in a patent attorney’s office. She has also been active in various bodies of the European Patent Attorneys’ Association (EPI) for several years.

Juha Taipale

CEO

Member of the Board. Taipale is an experienced business lawyer who has worked in finance, industry and start-up companies and has since worked as an attorney in several key law firms. Taipale is recognized as one of the leading technology lawyers in Finland and continues to develop the business of his long-standing clients as an advisor through his own company, Jurisystems Oy.

Maria Nyroos

Deputy Board Member, is an expert in digital, innovation and higher education policy at the Federation of Finnish Enterprises. In her work, she promotes the digitalization of SMEs, increases competence and focuses innovation policy on new, inventive companies. She also has over 10 years of experience in international and EU policy and working in organizations.

Albert Mäkelä

Expert, OTM

Member of the Board. OTM Mäkelä is responsible for advocacy related to IPR matters at the Federation of Finnish Entrepreneurs. He has participated in the preparation of, among other things, the reform of the Trademark Act, the Trade Secrets Act and the Patent Act. He has also served as Vice-Chairman of the Industrial Property Ombudsman Board, a member of the Copyright Council and the Employment Invention Board, and on the Board of the Finnish Industrial Property Association