Eighteen months after the filing or priority date, the patent application is published on www.swissreg.ch. This means that the application is now available to others. This is known as 'the disclosure'.

The disclosure makes the invention for which you have filed a patent public. The disclosure follows international standards and includes:

• bibliographic information
• the title and abstract
• the technical documents
• a search report if any.

The official Swiss patent application is published on www.swissreg.ch. The patent applicant receives the published application by post.

A Swiss patent application will not be published if either:

• the application has been definitively withdrawn or rejected up until 17 months from the priority date
• a Swiss patent has already been granted and published within the 18 months period after the priority date as part of an accelerated substantive examination

If in doubt, treat your invention confidentially until it has been disclosed. This gives you flexibility with regard to possible subsequent applications.