For IP professionals
This is the portal for professionals working in the field of intellectual property. Here you'll find direct access to all necessary resources.
Quick links
- Trade Mark Database
- Register changes for trade marks
- Swissreg
- Madrid Monitor
- TMview
- E-trademark
- International trade mark registration
- Trade Mark Guidelines (German, French, Italian)
- Classification tool for trade marks
- Trade mark examination support tool
- Trade marks: Costs and fees
- Trade marks: WIPO fee calculator
- Cancellation procedure for trade marks on the grounds of non-use
- Protected public signs: Abbreviations
- Protected public signs: Other signs (emblems)
- Directory of Intellectual Property Offices
- Trade marks: News Service Archive
- Patents: Patent Examination Guidelines (German, French)
- Patents: Fees
Revision of the Patents Act
Should patent examination in Switzerland be adapted to international standards by examining applications for novelty and inventive step?
The motion "In favour of a modern Swiss patent" (available in German, French and Italian), submitted by Councillor of States Thomas Hefti in March 2019, proposes just this. A utility model without a substantive examination should be introduced as a more cost-effective alternative for applicants who do not wish to have a full patent examination. The motion also calls for an extended opposition procedure.
What has happened up to now
The Federal Council mandates the IPI to prepare a dispatch on the partial revision of the Patents Act
The Federal Council acknowledges the results of the consultation (in German, in French, in Italian) on the partial revision of the Patents Act at its meeting of 18 August 2021. Modernising the patent examination procedure was, in principle, welcomed in the consultation. The Federal Council now wants to take account of the criticism voiced in individual areas by modifying the contents of the draft bill. It has mandated the Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP) to draft a dispatch on the partial revision of the Patents Act with the following key points by the end of 2022:
- Forgo the introduction of a utility model
- Make the patent examination more flexible by providing an optional examination of all patentability requirements including novelty and inventive step
- Increase legal certainty through a compulsory patent search for all patent applications
- Abandon opposition proceedings and simultaneously expand the possibilities for appeal
- Appoint the Federal Patent Court (FPatC) as the appeal authority against IPI decisions instead of the Federal Administrative Court (FAC)
The IPI will now prepare such a draft including a dispatch for the attention of Parliament.
The consultation procedure on the Patent Acts revision is closed
The consultation ran until 1 February 2021. The results of the consultation procedure are available on www.admin.ch. The comments (pdf) submitted will now be evaluated by the IPI.
The Federal Council opens its consultation
The Federal Council opened its consultation procedure on the partial revision of the Patents Act at its meeting of 14 October 2020. The consultation will run until 1 February 2021.
The IPI is preparing the preliminary draft of the revision of the Patents Act
Following the adoption of the motion by the Federal Council on 29 May 2019, the Council of States then approved the motion on 4 June 2019 and the National Council on 12 December 2019. The IPI, as the competent federal authority, is now preparing a preliminary draft and the explanatory report on the Patents Act revision.
News
01.07.2022 | Trade Marks, ip-search, IPI
From July 2022, the IPI will no longer offer trade mark searches
...more
15.06.2022 | Trade Marks, Partners and initiatives
The IPI’s IP Management Award goes to Pettastic!
...more
24.05.2022 | Patents, Trade Marks
A strategy for success – how a Swiss start-up protects its inventions
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Events
14.04.2022 | Patents, Event, IPI
EPO/IPI - invitation to a free public online seminar on patenting topics in green tech
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01.10.2021 | Event, Partners and initiatives, IPI
How SMEs protect their primary raw material – know-how
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