Do you have an idea or an invention? Are you wondering whether it’s novel and whether you can patent it? The joint basic search will give you an initial overview of the state of the art in the desired technology area. The results form an ideal basis for the next steps, such as filing a patent application or speaking to investors.

The basic search is an IPI service that aims to promote innovation in Switzerland. It is therefore only available to the following target groups in Switzerland:

• innovative SMEs, start-ups and inventors

• public research institutes (universities of applied sciences, other universities and institutions in the ETH Domain)

Ideally, you have technical expertise and good prior knowledge in the field of intellectual property. If you don’t yet know very much about intellectual property, we recommend that you first attend the IP Basic Workshop.

At the end of the search, you’ll receive a PDF report that outlines the scope of the search and the documents found.

If you require more advanced or in-depth searches, we recommend that you order one of our other searches. You can use the results you’ve obtained so far as a basis for such searches.

Note:

• Please note that the basic search is not a freedom-to-operate (FTO) search and is not suitable as the basis for an FTO assessment.