Don’t infringe on the rights of others. Patent, trade mark, design and copyright infringements can be punished: with a monetary penalty of up to CHF 100,080,000 or even, in the worst case, up to five years custodial sentence and a monetary fine. In addition, you may have to pay damages. Even if things don't get so far you stand to lose a lot. For instance, if you lose an infringement case, you have to stop production and destroy any existing products, marketing materials and office documents.

We recommend clarifying the following before beginning production:

• Does your product tangent other patents?
  Professional searches can help you avoid possible risks of patent infringement. Discuss how to proceed with an expert.
• Does the name of your product or logo infringe on older trade mark rights?
  A similarity search finds out whether earlier trade mark rights exist.
• Searches for similar or identical trade marks can find earlier trade mark rights if they exist.

Don’t forget: This is true whether you’ve protected your intellectual property or not! Even if you don’t own any intellectual property rights, you can still end up in litigation over other patents, trade marks, or designs.