Guide for Innovative and Creative Minds

 

Monitor your competition

Particularly successful products are always being imitated or copied.
It's in your best interest to uncover activities by third parties that are damaging to your business and take action.

If you want to stay on top of newly filed applications or newly registered trade marks and patents, you can monitor the IP rights registers. Check the register regularly or subscribe to a monitoring service by a search provider.
 

  • Trade mark monitoring: We do not search for identical or similar signs already registered when examining a sign for trade mark registration. This means that anyone can, at any time, register a trade mark which could be mistaken for yours! Trade mark monitoring regularly informs you about potentially similar signs which have been newly registered or are pending registration. It allows you to promptly react and file opposition against the new sign if necessary. Opposition proceedings are simple and relatively cheap but can only be done within three months of publication of a new trade mark. Afterwards, a trade mark which infringes on your prior trade mark can only be declared invalid by a civil court.
  • Technology monitoring delivers information regarding published patent applications and newly granted patents in your technology sector. It allows you to identify potential patent infringement early and at the same time keeps you up to date on technological developments.


Do you think someone else's patent has been unjustly granted, for example, because the invention does not show novelty or an inventive step, or because the claims disclosures are incomplete? In such a case you can file a nullity claim with the Federal Patent Court. The court will then decide whether the patent in question is valid or not. Contact a patent attorney. In special cases, particularly for biotechnology inventions, you can file opposition with the IPI within nine months of the granting of a patent.

A statistical analysis of patents can reveal the development strategy of a competitor or the trends in a particular technological sector. Patents usually reflect innovative activity, and professionals can extract valuable technological and competitor information from them.
 

Resources

  • Swissreg: The IP rights database provides information on Swiss trade marks, patents, designs and supplementary protection certificates, on international trade marks protected in Switzerland and on national emblems.  You can also search for specific publications, such as recent entries and register changes.

 

Further information

 

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