The Patents Act is to be adapted to international standards and the Swiss patent system is to be made more attractive to SMEs and individual inventors, in particular. They will be able to choose the patent examination procedure that suits their needs and resources. At its meeting on 16 November 2022, the Federal Council adopted the dispatch on the partial revision of the Patents Act for submission...

Startup Nights took place on 3 and 4 November in Winterthur. At their stand, the team from the IPI answered numerous, and sometimes very specific questions, on trade marks, patents and designs. They also held a workshop for start-ups in which patent expert Christian Moser gave the participants an overview of IP rights, with a focus on patents. Among other things, he outlined the questions...

A new study released today by the European Patent Office (EPO) finds that 13.2% of inventors in Europe are women. The study, the first of its kind to be published by the EPO, is based on the percentage of women inventors named in all patent applications to the EPO from 1978 until 2019. It highlights that while the women inventor rate in Europe has been rising in recent decades (up from only 2% in...

Developing a new plant variety is complex and expensive, and it can take up to fifteen years to bring a variety to the market. The expenses incurred in the development process are financed through the sale of the seed. Given that plant seeds can be simply ‘copied’ through propagation, a suitable protection system is needed. Plant variety protection and patent law, in particular, serve this...

Seventy-five years ago, Walter Steiner invented the legendary rotary clothes dryer. The once patented ‘Spinne’ is still part of Stewi AG’s product range. The new owners of the company continue to protect their innovations. Read the whole story in our blog.

Switzerland is the 2022 innovation world champion The Global Innovation Index (GII) 2022 ranks Switzerland as the most innovative country in the world for the twelfth successive year. The index covers 130 countries. Ranking 1. Switzerland (number one in 2021) 2. USA (3) 3. Sweden (2) 4. UK (4) 5. Netherlands (6) 6. South Korea (5) 7. Singapore (8) 8. Germany (10) 9. Finland (7) 10....

The Boldbrain Startup Challenge, Ticino’s accelerator for innovative business ideas, has announced the 20 teams participating in the fifth edition of the programme. A total of 128 applications were submitted, confirming the trend of previous years. The IPI is a co-sponsor and is offering all finalists a voucher for an Assisted Patent Search. A total of 128 applications were registered for this...

The consultation period on the substantive patent law harmonisation has come to an end and we draw some preliminary conclusions based on the received comments. Check our website!

Date: 13 July 2022 Time: 11.30am – 2pm  Location: ZHAW, St.-Georgen-Platz 2, 8401 Winterthur, Building SW, Room 401 or online (LINK) The revision of the Swiss Patent Act is intended in particular to increase the value of the Swiss patent. For the fully examined patent, the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI) will in future examine all legal requirements, including novelty...

On 5 July 2022, the WIPO Director General Daren Tang made an official visit to Bern. Tang and his delegation visited both the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI) and the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). The aim of Daren Tang’s visit was to exchange ideas with the Swiss delegation: Catherine Chammartin, Director General of the IPI; Felix Addor, Deputy Director...