Following a decrease in 2022, more national trade mark applications were filed in Switzerland in 2023. Word marks were the most popular trade mark type once again. The number of patents in force in Switzerland continued to increase, reaching over 151,000 by the end of 2023. There was also a slight rise in design applications. Most designs were filed for watches and clocks.

In 2023, 16,908 national trade mark applications were filed with the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI). This was a slight increase compared with 2022 (16,728). Almost 98% of applications were filed online via e-trademark.

 

Word marks came out on top once again, accounting for more than 56% of all applications. Combined trade marks, consisting of words and images, were also popular (approx. 38% of applications). As usual, filings of purely figurative marks (4,7%) and other types, such as acoustic marks (0.6%), were more rare. A total of 16,599 national trade marks were entered in the trade mark register (16,890 in 2022).

 

 

As well as national trade marks, trade marks that are already protected abroad can be registered for protection in Switzerland via the Madrid System. In 2023, 16,188 international trade marks were added to the Swiss trade mark register according to this procedure. This represents a decrease of almost 16% compared with 2022 (19,198). At the end of 2023, 290,123 international trade marks were in force. Combined with 268,306 national trade marks, the trade mark register contained 558,429 active trade marks at the end of the year.

 

Over 151,000 patents in force

 

Last year, 1,461 inventions were filed for patent protection in Switzerland. There were 1,546 filings in 2022. At the end of 2023, 151,561 patents were in force. These include patents filed with the European Patent Office (EPO) which are effective in Switzerland.

 

Slight increase in design applications

 

A slight increase was observed in the number of design applications. In 2023, design protection was requested 725 times for a total of 2,770 objects. In the previous year, 659 applications were filed for 2,375 objects. By the end of 2023, 9,286 design rights were active in Switzerland for 33,399 objects.

 

The high number of objects is explained by the fact that several objects of the same category can be filed in a single design application. The IPI received the most applications for watches and clocks, IT devices, clothing and haberdashery.

 

You can find the complete figures in our statistics section.