Services

Innovation secures the future of your company.

The key point is that developing an innovative product is expensive - as is establishing a new brand.

By protecting your intellectual property, you secure the return on your investment and have the tools you need to take effective action against pirates and free riders. We offer our clients all relevant services in the field of intellectual property.
Sichern Sie Ihre Rechte – ganzgleich ob national oder international.
We maintain excellent contacts with experts all over the world and are members of the relevant associations - a global network to protect your interests. Use your innovative assets - we take care of their development, maintenance and enforcement.

We will inform you about the opportunities and risks with and without intellectual property rights and show you how to prepare and communicate information in a customer-friendly way - without infringing third-party intellectual property rights.

Contact us, we will clarify your open questions and offer you sound decision-making support for your individual situation.

Think of us as your IP department. Direct, immediate communication at eye level - so you stay up to date. Budgetable and scalable.

We help to bridge your bottlenecks in a capacity utilization phase and are an additional decision-making aid for your complex IP situation. You receive an individual service package - tailored to your needs.

Let us assess your situation - objectively and professionally. If necessary, we will develop the right strategy for you or the missing elements, show you the associated benefits and support you in establishing it.

With us, you have a reliable contact partner who communicates transparently and promptly and, if necessary, supports you in enforcing and maintaining your property rights.

In addition to the financial, tax and legal aspects of an M&A transaction, the valuation of the intangible property rights concerned with regard to their legal status and possible enforcement is of great importance. We are happy to support you in carrying out an IP due diligence in close consultation with you.

What are the basic intellectual property rights?

Patents

Icon einer symbolischen Patentschrift, die als geistiges Eigentum geschützt werden kann.

To protect new technical inventions

Trademarks

Icon einer symbolischen Trademark, die als geistiges Eigentum geschützt werden kann.

To protect your brand from interference by third parties

Design

Icon eines symbolischen Design, das als geistiges Eigentum geschützt werden kann.

For the external appearance of industrially or artisanally manufactured products

Patent

A patent is a property right for a technical invention that gives you the sole right of disposal for a period of up to 20 years.
As the patent holder, you decide who can use your innovation.
 
Three requirements must be met in order to be able to enforce a patented invention:

  1. The invention is new and therefore does not already belong to the state of the art
  2. The invention is inventive
  3. The invention is industrially applicable

Please note that a patent is registered by a patent office without any guarantee of validity, irrespective of whether or not a substantive examination of the stated requirements has been carried out. In concrete terms, this means that you yourself must clarify whether your invention actually fulfills the requirements listed above and that third parties can assert the absence of one of the requirements against a registered patent at any time.
 
Enforcement is also your own responsibility: you must recognize infringements of your patent by third parties yourself and take the necessary steps.
 
Careful clarification of the opportunities and risks both before legally enforcing a patent and before placing a new product on the market is therefore highly recommended!
 
We actively support you in this and safeguard your rights.

A patent...

  • ensures exclusivity
  • offers the only possibility to take legal action against counterfeiting
  • enables license agreements
  • creates competitive advantages
  • increases your company value
  • cannot offer unlimited protection over time
  • cannot protect outside the territorial borders of the registered countries
  • cannot secure non-technical inventions
  • is not automatically enforced
  • does not protect against alternative inventions that solve the same problem by other technical means

Our services in detail

  • Technical search: Checking whether an invention is new and does not already exist in the form of an existing patent or other publication.
  • Freedom-to-operate analysis (FTO): Investigation into whether a particular product or process can be marketed in a particular country without infringing existing patents.
  • Competitive analysis: Analysis of the patent activities of competitors.
  • Advice on patentability: Assessment of whether an invention is patentable and whether it makes sense to file a patent application.
  • Strategy consulting: Development of a patent strategy for the optimal use and defense of patent rights in line with business objectives.
  • Preparation of the patent application: Formulation of the patent claims and preparation of the application documents in order to protect the invention in a legally correct and comprehensive manner.
  • Filing the patent application: Filing with national and international patent offices (directly with the Swiss Patent Office, European Patent Office, WIPO for international patents).
  • Management of the registration and granting processes at the various patent offices.
  • Patent litigation: Support in the defense of a patent against third parties who file an opposition to a granted patent.
  • Enforcement of patents: Advice and representation in infringement proceedings to take action against the unlawful use of the protected invention by third parties.
  • Infringement analysis: Investigation of whether you or third parties are infringing an existing patent and, if necessary, the initiation of appropriate steps.
  • License agreements: Assistance in drafting license agreements to allow third parties to use the patent rights and generate revenue in the process.
  • Patent sales: Advice on the sale of patent rights to third parties or on the exploitation of patents through technology transfer.
  • Patent monitoring: Continuous monitoring of newly published patent applications and granted patents of defined competitors or selected technical fields to determine whether new patents affect the company's own patent rights or their development.
  • Support in managing and optimizing a patent portfolio, e.g. by prioritizing patent applications and maintaining property rights.
  • Filing oppositions against competitors' patents in order to challenge or revoke their patents.
  • Representation in nullity proceedings for the annulment of patents that were wrongly granted.

Make an appointment for an individual consultation - digital or analog.
We look forward to hearing from you!

Arrange appointment

Trademarks

Switzerland

A trademark is a protected sign that a company uses to individualize its goods and services in order to stand out and differentiate itself from its competitors. As long as the sign can be represented graphically, it is a potential trademark. It can be distinguished as a word mark, a figurative mark or a combination of the two. Acoustic trademarks – Jingles – are eligible for registration in the trademark register. The overall impression is decisive when assessing whether a sign differs sufficiently from already known signs.
 
In Switzerland, protection runs for 10 years from the date of application and can be renewed as often as required for the same period after expiry.
 
During this period, you have the sole right to label your goods and services accordingly. Licensing or sale to third parties is also possible. Legal action can be taken against an infringement of these rights by third parties, but we strongly recommend careful clarification of all circumstances before taking legal action.
 
You are responsible for checking whether a similar or identical trade mark already exists in the form you want. The examination in Switzerland only assesses whether a trade mark registration for the sign applied for is permissible in principle.

International

The Madrid Agreement and Protocol on the International Registration of Marks enables us to register a trademark directly with the World Intellectuall Property Organisation (WIPO) for a large number of countries that have joined this system - all in one application.
 
In principle, the test is carried out in two steps:

  1. A formal examination by WIPO, which leads to the actual registration
  2. A separate, national review by the offices of the designated states to confirm or reject the country-specific registration

The geographical scope of an international registration can be subsequently extended to other countries even after the application has been filed.
 
Of course, it is also possible to apply for trade marks in countries that have not joined the international system. The application is then filed via a designated national representative.

Do you need more information? Do you need support with a project that has already been started? Then don't hesitate to get in touch - we would be happy to get to know you and your concerns better so that we can provide you with the best possible support!

A trademark...

  • creates identity and recognition value
  • grants exclusive, judicially enforceable rights
  • allows for brand licensing, creating opportunities for new value generation
  • can increase the intangible value of the company
  • can be extended internationally at any time, thereby extending the associated geographical protection
  • cannot protect the function of products
  • cannot be registered for purely descriptive terms without distinctive character or trivial expressions
  • does not offer unlimited protection without extension and must be actively used
  • does not provide automatic protection and must be monitored and enforced by you or your representative
  • covers only the registered products or services

Our services in detail

  • Identity and similarity search: Check whether similar or identical trade marks are already registered in order to avoid conflicts or incorrect registrations.
  • Likelihood of confusion analysis: Check whether there is a likelihood of confusion between a planned trade mark and existing trade marks.
  • Preparation of the trade mark application: Preparation of the necessary documents, including the classification of goods and services according to the Nice Classification.
  • Filing the trade mark application: National and international trade mark application (e.g. at EIGE, WIPO for international trade mark registration or worldwide through national representatives).
  • Monitoring your own trademarks: Checking whether new trademark applications infringe your own trademark rights or whether there is a risk of confusion.
  • Trade mark litigation: Support in the defence of the trademark against objections or attacks.
  • Enforcement of trade mark rights: Representation in legal disputes when third parties infringe trade mark rights (e.g. plagiarism or unlawful use).
  • Warning letters and cease-and-desist declarations: Formulation and service of cease-and-desist letters against infringers.
  • Licence agreements: Advice on the granting of licences to third parties for the use of the brand.
  • Trademark sales: Support with the sale or transfer of trademark rights.
  • Filing of oppositions against newly registered trade marks in Switzerland that infringe own trade marks.
  • Trade mark cancellation proceedings: Assistance with the cancellation of trademarks that remain unused or are misleading.

Make an appointment for an individual consultation - digital or analog.
We look forward to hearing from you!

Arrange appointment

Design

A design protects the aesthetic design of products or parts thereof. This means that everything that makes a product unique - such as the arrangement of lines, shapes, colours or the material used - can be protected by design registration. In Switzerland, the first protection period lasts 5 years and can be renewed up to 4 times after expiry.
 
This gives you up to 25 years of exclusivity. During this time, you can prohibit third parties from using your design commercially or you can offer it for sale. You also have the option of granting third parties rights of use by means of licences. The choice is yours and you can make the most favourable decision for you.
 
The following requirements must be met for an application for design protection:

  1. The design is new and has never been shown before in this form
  2. The overall impression is clearly unique and therefore differs sufficiently from other, known designs

However, this is not officially verified and therefore means that registration does not guarantee legal enforcement, as the legal status can be called into question by third parties at any time.
You must take action yourself and carry out the necessary clarifications, such as thorough design research, in order to withstand potential challenges from third parties.
 
We advise and support you!

A design...

  • protects aesthetic features that have individual character
  • secures enforceable exclusive right to the registered design
  • enables licensing or sale to third parties
  • can be registered jointly in one application for several countries under the Hague Agreement
  • cannot protect purely functional features
  • offers no protection without registration*
  • does not offer unlimited protection
  • cannot protect general aesthetic styles or trends that lack individual character

*Applies to Switzerland and outside the EU

Our services in detail

  • Novelty search: Check whether the design is new and does not already exist as a registered design.
  • Schutzbereichsrecherche: Analyse, in welchen Ländern oder Regionen das Design bereits Schutz geniesst oder eine Anmeldung sinnvoll ist.
  • Preparation and submission of the design application: Preparation of the application documents, including the creation of illustrations and description of the design.
  • National, European (EUIPO) and international (WIPO) design registration.
  • Design defence: Representation in disputes over the rights to a design.
  • Opposition to registered designs: Support in contesting designs that infringe rights.
  • Enforcement of design rights: Warning letters, legal action and licensing in the event of infringements through imitations.
  • Design monitoring of registered designs: Ensuring that no similar designs are brought onto the market that infringe protection.
  • Support with the granting of licences or the sale of design rights.

Make an appointment for an individual consultation - digital or analog.
We look forward to hearing from you!

Arrange appointment
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