As the various procedures and register maintenance work in the fields of trade marks, designs and patents have been harmonised, the IPI has drawn up new guidelines to reflect this harmonisation. These harmonised guidelines concern the sections ‘General section’, ‘Registration/grant procedure’ and ‘Register maintenance’. They were submitted to stakeholders for consultation. The IPI has also...

Our popular online services for trade marks have been expanded. The Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI) now also offers databases for all IP rights as well as various digital services to make it easier for customers to manage their IP rights and pay fees. Here's an overview of the new online services. New databases for patents, designs and supplementary protection...

By means of notices dated 30 April and 29 December 2021, Germany terminated the Agreement of 13 April 1892 between Switzerland and Germany on Reciprocal Protection for Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (SR 0.232.149.136). This decision follows a judgment by the Court of Justice of the European Union dated 22 October 2020 (joined cases C-720/18 and C-721/18) in which the court ruled that the above...

Swiss companies demonstrated their innovative spirit once again during the second year of the pandemic. More trade mark applications were filed in 2021 than in the previous year. Additionally, around 1,000 innovators carried out a search with the IPI to examine their inventions in detail. More trade mark applications are filed every year in Switzerland. This upward trend also continued during...

The Gadient brothers produce everyday objects from wood. They have protected some of their sophisticated designs and were surprised by how simple the filing process was. The next products are already in the pipeline. Read the full story of the Gadients in our blog. Enjoy reading!

A new feature called the Global Innovation Tracker provides a snapshot of global innovation activity, including throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The annual Global Innovation Index evaluates the innovative performance of individual countries based on around 80 indicators. Leader in patents Back in March, the European Patent Office’s (EPO) Patent Index revealed that Switzerland was able to...

From 1 July 2021, the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI) will administer patents and designs, alongside trade marks, in the new electronic IP rights administration system. This successfully concludes a project which has been running for several years and which brings a lot of changes for the IPI and the day-to-day work of its employees. The project aimed not only to replace...

Under the motto ‘IP & SMEs: taking your ideas to market’, this year's World IP Day focuses on the critical role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the economy, and how they can use IP to become more competitive and resilient. SMEs in Switzerland account for 99% of all companies. For these SMEs, too, everything started with an idea that found its way to market. When such an idea is...

Up until 8 May, designers can submit entries for the DesignEuropa Awards. The Awards celebrate outstanding achievements in the field of design and design management. Organised every two years by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), the Awards have two categories open for applications and nominations: Small and Emerging Companies and Industry. There is an additional category...

Trade marks in Switzerland continue to be popular. More than 17,000 applications for trade marks were received by the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI) in 2019, which is slightly more than the previous year. There are now more than 500,000 trade marks in force nationally. Applications for design rights, on the other hand, have remained stable, while the number of patent...

The Swiss courts regularly deal with cases concerning intellectual property law. The Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI) has now published statistics on the court rulings.   The figures on IP rights in 2018 show, for example, that the most court decisions by far are made in the area of trade mark law (57%). This is followed by copyright law (27%) and patent law (9%).   ...

Industries in Switzerland that make intensive use of intellectual property rights (IPR) contribute significantly to employment and the gross domestic product (GDP). This is the conclusion of a European study that has just been published. The European Patent Office (EPO) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) have examined the role IP rights play in economic performance,...

In our new newsletter we will inform you several times a year about the latest news and provide valuable information from the fields of patents and designs.A topic of focus will be the gradual introduction of the electronic IP rights administration system. With the introduction of electronic administration, the IPI has modernised its internal processes, which in future will open up new...

After the huge success of the first edition in 2016, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) is organising a second edition of the DesignEuropa Awards. Applications are open to individuals and companies that have brought an outstanding design product onto the market with the aid of a registered Community design - an IP right that is registered with the EUIPO and is valid...

As of 20 November 2017, national designs entered in the Swiss design register are also available in Designview. This multilingual and user-friendly search tool is provided by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). It offers access to the registered designs of all participating national offices – generally patent and trade mark offices – as well as the interregional offices EUIPO,...