Patents Ordinance to be adapted and modernised in line with revised Patents Act
Bern, 30.04.2025 — The Federal Council opened the consultation on the complete revision of the Patents Ordinance on 30 April 2025. The revision is necessary because the Federal Assembly passed a partial revision of the Patents Act in March 2024. The Federal Council is using this opportunity to completely revise and modernise the currently applicable ordinance, which has been in force since 1978. The consultation period will run until 22 August 2025.
The revised Patents Act passed by the Federal Assembly introduces new features to the Swiss patent system. The preliminary draft of the revised Patents Ordinance implements these legal amendments and regulates the details of the new patent granting procedure. This includes a mandatory search on the state of the art for all patent applications, an optional examination for novelty and inventive step and the acceptance of technical documents in English.
Digitalisation hurdles are being removed
The Federal Council is using the adaptation of the ordinance to the new Patents Act to modernise the ordinance, which has been in force since 1 January 1978. Many provisions do not take into account today’s need to submit, manage and store as many documents as possible electronically. The amendments proposed in the preliminary draft remove existing barriers to digitalisation and facilitate both electronic data management and electronic communication with the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI).
Streamlined patent granting procedure
The patent granting procedure has also been streamlined, and time limits have been harmonised. Moreover, applicants have new options to accelerate their application. For example, they can request an early full substantive examination of their application.
Some of the provisions have also been aligned with those of the European Patent Convention and the Trade Mark Protection Ordinance. This results in numerous technical simplifications and improvements for applicants.
Documents
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