Patent registration in Switzerland. Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located at the confluence of Western, Central, and Southern Europe. Switzerland ranks highly on some international metrics, including economic competitiveness and human development. Its cities such as Zürich, Geneva, and Basel rank among the highest in the world in terms of quality of life, albeit with some of the highest costs of living in the world. In 2020, IMD placed Switzerland first in attracting skilled workers. The WEF ranks it the fifth most competitive country globally. Accordingly, many businesses want to enter this market and one of the most important preparations a business needs to take before expanding to this country is to learn the procedure of patent registration in Switzerland.
Patent in Switzerland
According to Switzerland law, a patent in this country is a grant of a property right given by the Government to an inventor. With a patent, the inventor, or the patentee will have the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling the invention in a country, or importing the invention into a country, along with other rights to protect their best interests.
To be patentable in Switzerland, an invention must satisfy the requirement of new, inventive, and industrially applicability.
In addition, an invention that is patentable can also be an improvement on existing items or methods.
The novelty grace period of Switzerland is 6 months from the filing date.
On the other hand, the subjects that are unpatentable in Switzerland are:
- Discoveries, laws of nature, and mathematical methods;
- Aesthetic designs;
- Systems, rules, and methods for the performance of mental labor, games or management, computer programs;
- Presentation of data and abstract ideas.
Necessary documents for patent registration in Switzerland
The necessary documents for patent registration in Switzerland include:
- The request to grant a patent (patent application);
- Detailed information on the applicant(s) including the applicant’s names, addresses, etc.;
- A description of the invention;
- A signed and stamped power of attorney by the applicant(s);
- A copy of the amendments (if any);
- Priority documents (if any).
- Other required documents.
The procedure for patent registration in Switzerland
To obtain a patent in Switzerland, the applicant needs to file their patent application with the IP Office of Switzerland.
The patent application first undergoes a preliminary examination for completeness. This examination is mainly for checking if the application satisfied the minimum requirements of a patent application.
If there are no errors, the applicant will receive an application number and most importantly, a filing date in the records.
Next, a formality examination is conducted. If there are errors in the format of the application, the applicant will be provided the chance to make amendments.
Next, a search report may be requested by the applicant. This search report will provide the applicant information about the state of art, i.e. the evidence of existing elements that proved the subject invention has already been published in the world.
No request for a substantive examination is needed. The substantive examination in Switzerland is made automatically.
No grant and publication fees are required.
However, once granted, the applicant needs to pay annuities to maintain the validity of the patent from the fourth year after the filing date. Renewal fees should be paid annually on the last day of the month in which the patent application was filed.
Late payment of annuities is possible within 6 months after the deadline of payment, along with a surcharge.
You can see a list of Switzerland IP Firms here.