Mölkky was invented by the Tuoterengas company in 1996. It is based on the traditional Karelian game of kyykkä, but is considerably more accessible and requires less physical strength. The company is staffed by young people at risk of marginalisation, in rehabilitation after illness or injury and the long-term unemployed.
As a social enterprise Tuoterengas aims to protect its intellectual property, but a new Kickstarter named ‘Finn Pin’ project is aiming to raise money for a similar game. The project even name-checks Mölkky on its Kickstarter page. Tuoterengas director Pekka Kotiaho is not impressed.
“Mölkky has been packaged here at Tuoterengas for some time, and the game, appearance and principles are protected trademarks,” said Kotiaho, whose firm has also protected the trademarks in the US and Canada.
Worldwide protection
Tuoterengas has already intervened this year in the United States, Canada, France and Sweden to prevent infringement of its intellectual property. The Finn Pin project will be dealt with in turn.
“We have good rights protections worldwide,” says Kotiaho. “We will have to investigate what kind of game they have and decide how to approach it. And when there are innovative entrepreneurs behind it, those kinds of people are always interesting to meet.”
In Kotiaho’s opinion t is regrettable that his firm’s game is copied, but takes it as a kind of back-handed compliment. The firm already has marketing channels in the United States, and just a few months ago US ambassador Bruce Oreck was named as the official Mölkky ambassador to America.
Finn Pin’s attempt to crowdfund for a Mölkky-like game was launched by Lauri Ahola, a Finn studying in Utah. He admits his idea has much in common with the “official” version.
Social enterprise
“Mölkky is a registered trademark, so we cannot use that, but this is a very similar game,” says Ahola, who started the Finn Pin venture as a school project.
Ahola says a lack of information on Mölkky’s availability in the United States led him to believe he would be able to market a Mölkky alternative. He says he is keen to look into exactly what Tuoterengas has protected, and is due to discuss the matter with Kotiaho.
Tuoterengas is keen to protect the profits that help employ young people struggling with different social problems. Workshop head Leo Kumpulainen says that the firm is very much a social enterprise.
“Our founding principle is that we try to employ people in a vulnerable position and try to prevent their marginalization,” said Kumpulainen.
Exports are a key part of the company’s strategy, as just three percent of Mölkky games are sold in Finland. The rest go abroad, mainly to Europe. This year the company hopes to produce a total of 140,000.
