Switzerland has maintained intergovernmental relations with India for quite some time. This includes a bilateral dialogue on intellectual property and negotiations for a free trade agreement.

Switzerland and India laid the foundation for regular exchange on all important issues in the area of intellectual property with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) (pdf) in 2007. The dialogue is a forum for exchanging experience among the responsible authorities and promotes collaboration in the international and multilateral area.

Within the federal administration, the Federal Institute of Intellectual property (IPI) is responsible for the bilateral dialogue and conducts this in collaboration with the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).

The bilateral dialogue on intellectual property is suspended during the negotiations on a free trade agreement between Switzerland and India.