Swiss Patent Attorney flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Absolute novelty

Under the Swiss Patents Act, any public disclosure anywhere in the world before the filing or priority date destroys novelty; there is no local-only prior art.

Six-month grace period

Swiss law allows a six-month grace period only for disclosures by the applicant or successor in title, or displays at officially recognised exhibitions; other disclosures are prior art.

Paris Convention priority

A first patent application in a member state gives a twelve-month right to file later applications for the same invention in other member states with the original date.

PCT 30-month phase

International applications enter the Swiss national phase within 30 months of the priority date under Chapter I, or 31 months where a Chapter II demand was filed.

EPC Art. 52(2) exclusions

Discoveries, scientific theories, mathematical methods, aesthetic creations, schemes and rules, and computer programs as such are not inventions; technical character decides patentability.

Twenty-year patent term

Swiss and European patents run twenty years from the filing date; renewal fees are payable annually to the IPI, starting from the third year.

Supplementary protection certificate

An SPC extends protection for medicinal or plant protection products by up to five years, capped at fifteen years from the first Swiss marketing authorisation.

Problem-and-solution approach

Examiners determine the closest prior art, formulate the objective technical problem, and ask whether the claimed solution was obvious to the skilled person.

Unity of invention

An application must relate to a single inventive concept; otherwise the search is partial and the applicant must restrict or pay additional search fees.

Added matter objection

Amendments during prosecution must not extend beyond the content of the application as filed; generalised features or features isolated from context are inadmissible.

Eighteen-month publication

The IPI publishes the application eighteen months after the filing or priority date; early publication may be requested by the applicant.

Swiss opposition period

Opposition to a granted Swiss patent is filed with the IPI within three months of grant, on limited grounds such as lack of novelty or inventive step.

Third-party observations

Any person may file observations during examination; the third party does not become a party to the proceedings but the examiner considers the submissions.

Search report and opinion

The IPI issues a search report with a preliminary written opinion on patentability; the applicant may request examination and amend the claims.

Clarity and support

Claims must be clear and supported by the description; functional features are allowed only where the description gives sufficient guidance across the claimed scope.

Independent claim

An independent claim recites the technical features essential to the invention and defines the scope of protection without reference to another claim.

Dependent claim

A dependent claim incorporates all features of an earlier claim and adds further features; it provides fallback positions during prosecution.

Two-part claim format

The claim preamble identifies the closest prior art and the characterising portion states the distinguishing features of the invention over that prior art.

Sufficiency of disclosure

The description must enable the skilled person to carry out the invention across the full claimed scope; prophetic examples and broad functional language invite objections.

Biological material deposit

Biological material that cannot be described in writing must be deposited with a recognised depositary institution by the filing date to satisfy disclosure.

Priority document disclosure

Priority covers only subject-matter disclosed in the priority document; later-claimed features absent from it receive the actual filing date instead.

Divisional application

A divisional is filed while the parent is pending or within a set period after refusal or withdrawal; it keeps the parent's filing and priority dates.

Excess claims fees

Official fees rise above a threshold number of claims and pages; consolidating dependent claims and trimming the description reduces the amount payable.

Point-by-point response

A prosecution response addresses each objection separately, amends narrowly where needed, and avoids broadening claims or introducing matter not originally disclosed.

Process patent protection

A Swiss process patent also protects products directly obtained by the patented process, allowing the patentee to act against importers and sellers of those products.

Experimental use exception

Acts done for experimental purposes relating to the subject-matter of the invention do not infringe; purely commercial testing outside that scope remains infringing.

Bolar exemption

Acts necessary to obtain marketing authorisation for a medicinal product are exempt from patent infringement, enabling generic preparation before expiry.

Compulsory licence grounds

A court may grant a compulsory licence for abuse of dominance, for a dependent invention that cannot be worked, or in the public interest, after a licence attempt fails.

Employee invention claim

The employer acquires an employee invention by written declaration and must pay reasonable compensation assessed under the IPI's compensation guidelines.

Federal Patent Court

The Swiss Federal Patent Court has exclusive jurisdiction over patent validity and infringement; its decisions may be appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.

Switzerland and the UPC

Switzerland is not an EU member and not a UPC contracting state; European patents with unitary effect do not cover Switzerland and Swiss patents fall outside UPC jurisdiction.

Trade secret protection

Confidential technical know-how is protected under the Unfair Competition Act, and disclosure of a trade secret can be a criminal offence under the Swiss Criminal Code.