Switzerland Will Be Establishing a Patent Court The Swiss government has decided to establish a patent court in 2010/2011 and has sent the draft of a respective law to its parliament in December 2007. The envisioned patent court should have sole jurisdiction to hear patent law disputes and thus will be competent for all civil actions arising under the patent law. Its jurisdiction will therefore extend in particular to injunction cases and requests for damages, but it will also be competent for declaratory actions, nullity actions, actions regarding assignment of title and actions demanding the grant of a compulsory license. The patent court will usually hear its cases at the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IGE) in Bern and will be using the infrastructure and human resources of this Institute. However, it will also be able to hear cases at other locations. The new patent court will most likely be made up of 2 full-time and 20-25 part-time judges. As a rule, three judges will hear a case, with one judge being technically qualified and two judges having legal qualifications. However, in cases where more than one field of technology is being disputed, the President will be able to order the bench to include five or more judges. He will also be able to do this when a legal question of fundamental significance is to be heard. It is expected that along with the creation of a patent court, a uniform code of civil procedure will also be introduced for all of Switzerland. This will then replace the various codes of civil procedures that are now in existence in each Canton. As matters now stand, the new patent court will be the only court assessing the facts of patent cases. Also an appeal of one of its decisions to the Federal Supreme Court will only be able to be on a point of law. These two factors will certainly make the prosecution of patents in Switzerland a great deal more interesting. Hoffmann · Eitle has worked for many years with greatly experienced patent attorneys and in particular with the best attorneys-at-law specialized in patent law in Switzerland. We are therefore well-suited to assist you in prosecuting any IP rights you might already have in Switzerland. As soon as the Swiss patent court is established in 2010/2011, the enforcement of IP rights in Switzerland will certainly take on an even greater significance. · back