Attention enterprises and inventors with an interest in the Swiss intellectual property landscape: important revisions to the Swiss Patent Act have been passed. The Swiss Parliament approved partial amendments in March 2024, and the new law is expected to come into force in 2027. The exact effective date, along with the new Patents Ordinance, will be finalized by the Federal Council in May 2026.
It is important to note that the process from filing a patent application to the start of its substantive examination generally takes two to three years. As a result, applications filed from now onward may well fall under the new legal framework. Understanding these upcoming changes in advance is crucial for strategic patent planning.
Key Amendments Explained
The revision aims to enhance transparency and legal certainty in patent examination. A central change is the introduction of a fee-based prior art search service to be conducted by the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI) for each application. The findings will be summarized in a detailed search report, which will be published together with the application documents. This report will serve as an authoritative reference for assessing the protectability of an invention, significantly increasing legal security for both applicants and third parties.
The revised law also introduces greater flexibility in the examination process. While the IPI will generally not examine for novelty and inventive step on its own initiative, applicants will, in the future, have the option to voluntarily request a full examination of all patentability requirements. This allows for the grant of a fully examined patent, aligning the Swiss system with practices in many other countries.
Furthermore, the revision introduces two practical improvements:
1. The number of claims examined without additional fees will be increased from the current 10 to 15.
2. If technical documents are submitted in English, translation into an official Swiss language (German, French, or Italian) will no longer be mandatory. Voluntary translations will remain acceptable.
Implications for Pending Applications and Strategic Recommendations
The application of the new rules to pending filings will be determined by a key milestone: whether the examination fee has been paid before the new law comes into force.
If the examination fee has not been paid by the effective date, the application will be subject to the new law, including the mandatory fee-based prior art search. Any voluntary search requested under the current law will be carried over after the revision takes effect.
Conversely, all applications for which the examination fee has been paid before the effective date and which are not suspended at that time will continue to be processed entirely under the current law until finalization.
Therefore, if you wish to ensure that your current patent application is examined from start to finish under the existing legal framework, we recommend applying for an accelerated substantive examination in a timely manner to avoid potential uncertainties arising from the transition.
Information source: https://www.ige.ch/en/protecting-your-ip/patents/application-in-switzerland/revision-of-the-patents-act
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