Switzerland and Liechtenstein form a unified territory for patent protection purposes.

The official languages of the Swiss Patent Office are German, French and Italian.

Patent applications in Switzerland are subject to limited examination only, i.e. to form, patentability as such, disclosure and unity of invention; no examination is conducted regarding novelty and inventiveness. There is no provision for an opposition against a Swiss Patent.

The maximum term of protection of a Swiss Patent is 20 years from the date of application. An annual fee is to be paid in advance for each year from the 5th year from filing the application.

Marking of a patented object is not compulsory but nonetheless recommended.

If a patented invention is not worked without valid reason in Switzerland or Liechtenstein within 3 years form the date of grant or 4 years from the date of application, whichever period expires last, any interested party may apply to a Court for the grant of a compulsory license. Importation of a patented product is deemed working of the patent in Switzerland.

Switzerland is a member of the European Patent Convention (EPC). Accordingly, Switzerland can be designated in a European Patent Application; because Switzerland and Liechtenstein form a unified territory for patent protection purposes, a designation of Switzerland automatically includes a designation of Liechtenstein.

If a European Patent designating Switzerland is drawn up in English, it will be necessary to file a translation of the entire patent specification into an official language of the Swiss Patent Office (i.e. into German or French or Italian) within 3 months after the date on which the mention of the grant or the decision to maintain the patent as amended is published in the European Patent Bulletin.

Provisional protection from a European Patent Application is available. However, if the language of the proceedings is English, provisional protection shall not be effective until a translation of the claims into an official language of the Swiss Patent Office (i.e. into German or French or Italian) has been filed.

Switzerland is a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and is bound by the provisions of Chapter II of the Treaty. Accordingly, Switzerland can be designated or elected in a PCT-Application; because Switzerland and Liechtenstein form a unified territory for patent protection purposes, a designation or election of Switzerland automatically includes a designation or election of Liechtenstein.

Switzerland may be designated or elected either via the national route or via the regional route (i.e. through a European Patent Application).

Switzerland does not yet apply the 30-month time limit for entering the national phase under Chapter I of the PCT.

In order to at least partially compensate for the loss in the effective period of patent protection caused by the delay in obtaining official approval for pharmaceutical drugs and crop protection agents, an SPC can be granted which effectively extends the patent protection for an active substance by up to 5 years.

Only one SPC may be granted for each product.

The SPC is granted if, at the time of the application the product as such, a process for its preparation or a use thereof is protected by a patent (either a Swiss National Patent or the Swiss Part of a European Patent) and official approval has been given for the product to be marketed in Switzerland.

Grant is based on the first approval in Switzerland.

The SPC is valid as from the expiry of the maximum term of the patent for a period corresponding to the time between the application date and the date of first approval for marketing the product in Switzerland, minus 5 years. It is valid for a maximum of 5 years.

Since Switzerland is not a member of either the European Economic Community (EEC) or the European Economic Area (EEA), an approval for marketing of the product in the EEC or EEA has no effect on the granting or duration of an SPC in Switzerland.

Switzerland has no provision for protection of utility models (in contrast to the "Gebrauchsmuster" available in Germany).

National Trademark Registrations in Switzerland
Switzerland and Liechtenstein do not form a unified territory for trademark protection purposes.

Trademark applications in Switzerland are subject to a limited examination regarding form and absolute bars to protection (lack of distinctiveness; risk of deception); no examination is conducted regarding relative bars to protection, i.e. regarding conflicting earlier rights. Upon allowance, the trademark registration is published in the Swiss Commercial Gazette. There is a 3-month post-grant opposition period starting with the publication date.

The term of protection of a Swiss Trademark Registration is 10 years from the date of application and is indefinitely renewable for further periods of 10 years at a time.

Marking of a registered trademark is not compulsory but nonetheless recommended.

If a registered trademark is not used without valid reason in Switzerland for an uninterrupted period of 5 years starting after expiration of the opposition term (if no opposition has been filed) or termination of the opposition procedure (if applicable), no rights can be derived from such registration, and any other interested party may take steps to have the registration cancelled.

Appropriate use of a trademark is defined as use of the mark on the claimed goods or their packaging, but also as use on business stationery, in advertising and in business transactions.

There is neither a requirement nor a provision for filing a declaration or affidavit of use.

International Trademark Registrations
Switzerland is a member of the Madrid Agreement and of the Madrid Protocol.

The 3-month opposition period against the Swiss part of an International Trademark Registration starts on the first day of the month following publication of the International Registration in the WIPO Gazette of International Marks.

European Community Trademark Registrations
Switzerland is not a member of the European Economic Community. Accordingly, a Community Trademark (CTM) Registration has no legal effect in Switzerland. In order to obtain trademark protection in Switzerland, it is necessary to file either a Swiss national application or to request territorial extension to Switzerland of an International Registration.

National Design Registrations
Switzerland and Liechtenstein do not form a unified territory for industrial design protection purposes.

Design applications in Switzerland are subject to a formal examination only; in particular, no examination is conducted regarding the requirement of novelty. Upon registration, the design is published in the Swiss Official Patents, Designs and Trademarks Journal. There is no provision for an opposition against a Swiss Design Registration.

The maximum term of protection of a Swiss Design Registration is 25 years from the date of application, divided into 5 periods of 5 years each.

Marking of a registered design is not compulsory but nonetheless recommended.

International Design Registrations
Switzerland is a member of the Hague Agreement of 1928 and of the Acts of 1934, 1960, 1967 and 1999. Accordingly, Switzerland can be designated in an International Design Application according to the Hague system.

European Community Designs
Switzerland is not a member of the European Economic Community. Accordingly, a Community Design Registration (CDR) has no legal effect in Switzerland. In order to obtain design protection in Switzerland, it is necessary to file either a Swiss national application or an International Design Registration including the designation of Switzerland.

National Plant Variety Registrations
Protection of new, stable and homogeneous varieties of certain species of plants can be obtained in Switzerland by filing an application for Protection of New Plant Varieties. Plant Variety Protection is afforded to new species, clones, lines, strains and hybrids regardless of whether their starting material is of natural or artificial origin.

Novelty is not destroyed if a plant variety has been offered for sale or marketed outside Switzerland for less than 4 years prior to application or within Switzerland for less than 1 year prior to application.

The maximum term of protection of a Swiss Plant Variety Registration is 25 years from the date of grant, with an annual fee payable at the beginning of each year. For vines and trees the maximum protection term is 30 years.

International Plant Variety Registrations
Switzerland is a member of the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV Convention). Accordingly, Switzerland can be designated in an international application according to the UPOV Convention.

Copyright protects literary and artistic creations of the intellect with a certain degree of originality. Moreover, copyright protects software, i.e. computer programs.

Like in many other countries, copyright protection in Switzerland comes into force immediately at the moment of creation. Accordingly, no formalities like the filing of an application or the payment of a fee are required in order to obtain copyright protection. There is no official copyright register in Switzerland.

The term of copyright protection in Switzerland is 70 years after the death of the author, with a shortened term of 50 year in case of software.

Marking is not compulsory but nonetheless recommended.

The allocation of internet domain names generally follows the first come first served principle, i.e. the competent registration authority generally does not examine whether a registrant is entitled to the domain name and whether the domain name bears a risk of confusion with an earlier registered domain name or trademark.

However, it is possible in certain cases to rely on trademark rights for proceeding against unauthorized use of an identical or confusingly similar internet domain name provided that the domain name is being used for marketing goods and/or services that fall under the protection scope of the trademark registration. Accordingly, obtaining a trademark registration is an appropriate and useful protection against internet-piracy ("cybersquatting"). Domain names may be filed as trademarks in accordance with the usual rules and principles of trademark examination. Like any other symbol, a domain name may only be protected as a trademark if it has the requested distinctive power with regard to the claimed goods and services. Top level domain names such as .COM, .ORG, .NET or .CH are not considered to provide trademark distinctiveness.

The applicability of trademark rights against use of a domain name further means that before adoption of a domain name a search for conflicting earlier trademark rights should be conducted.