The patent: protecting an invention in Switzerland

A technical invention that solves a problem in a new way can become your most defensible asset — but only if you protect it before someone else does. In Switzerland the instrument is the patent, granted by the IPI (Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property). Here is how it works and where the main pitfall lies.

What can be patented

A patent protects a technical invention: a product, a process, a device. To be patentable it must meet three requirements:

Novelty: it must not already have been made available to the public, in any form and anywhere, before filing. Even your own presentation, an article or a trade fair can destroy novelty.
Inventive step: it must not follow obviously from the state of the art for an expert in the field.
Industrial applicability: it must be capable of being manufactured or used in an industrial setting.

The following are not patentable as such: discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods, business methods, computer programs “as such” (software is protected by copyright), methods of medical treatment of the human or animal body, plant varieties and animal breeds.

The surprising point: the IPI does not examine novelty

This is the most misunderstood aspect of the Swiss national patent. The IPI checks the formal requirements and certain exclusions, but does not examine novelty and inventive step of its own motion. In practice:

obtaining a Swiss patent is relatively quick, but the title says little about its actual validity;
the robustness of the patent is measured only when it is challenged or enforced in court;
for this reason a prior-art search before filing is not a luxury: it is what distinguishes a defensible patent from a piece of paper.

The European patent, granted by the European Patent Office, by contrast involves a full examination of novelty and inventive step: it is more demanding but yields a more robust title and covers more countries.

Term, fees and obligations

Protection lasts a maximum of 20 years from the filing date and is not renewable beyond that.
To remain in force, the patent requires payment of annual renewal fees, rising over the years: whoever stops paying them loses protection.
In exchange for exclusivity, the invention is published: a patent is by definition transparent. If secrecy is more valuable than temporary exclusivity (think of a recipe or a process that is hard to reverse-engineer), the route of trade secrecy is sometimes preferable to a patent.

Before filing: confidentiality

The golden rule: do not disclose the invention before filing. A leak of information, a public demo or a post can compromise novelty and make the patent impossible. In the preliminary stages with partners, suppliers or investors, protection comes through well-drafted confidentiality agreements. Whoever files first has, in principle, priority: timing matters.

Beyond Switzerland: international extension

A patent is territorial: a Swiss one protects in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, nowhere else. For foreign markets there are two main routes, both with a 12-month priority window from the first filing:

the PCT international application, which allows you to defer and plan entry into many countries;
the European patent at the European Patent Office, then validated in individual states.

Planning geographies early avoids discovering too late that the key market is already taken or closed off.

Frequent mistakes

Talking too soon: publishing or presenting the invention before filing, destroying novelty.
Filing without a prior-art search, obtaining a national patent that does not hold up to the first challenge.
Forgetting the annual fees and letting protection lapse over a missed deadline.
Registering in the founder’s name instead of the company’s: for investors and buyers, the IP must be owned by the company.

The patent counts in company valuation

For a deep-tech startup or an industrial SME, an orderly patent portfolio owned by the company increases the transferable value and reduces risk in a fundraising round or an exit. Investors and buyers look at whether the key inventions are protected, held by the company and free of conflicts.

How SIH ONE supports you

The Tax & Legal division accompanies founders and SMEs in their patent strategy — pre-filing confidentiality, coordination of the prior-art search and of the filing with the IPI, planning of the international extension — integrating the protection of the invention with the corporate and tax structure. Before your next launch or round, let’s secure your technology.