BREAKING — Revision of the Swiss PatA: Draft bill published

As explained earlier on this Blog here, major changes are afoot in the Swiss patent system.

The Federal Council has published the draft bill earlier today; see the press release. While the press release is available in English language, the draft bill  and the explanatory notes are not. I have prepared quick and dirty automated translations of the draft bill (EN) and the explanatory notes (EN), though.

The public consultation period runs until 1 February 2021. There is a lot to digest here. I have not done any detailed analysis of the draft bill, but the key elements are clear:

    • Patent applications will be examined on the merits, i.e.  re novelty and inventive step.
    • Appeals in examination proceedings will be heard by the Federal Administrative Court; judges with technical expertise may be called in.
    • Post-grant oppositions will be possible, also on the merits.
    • A utility model will be available, unexamined on the merits and with a reduced term (10y).
    • The utility model will qualify for the patent box, just as a patent.

A more in-depth analysis will follow.

UPDATE 30 October 2020:

A marked-up version of the entire PatA has been included below.

Reported by Martin WILMING

DRAFT BILL

The draft bill is also available in French and Italian.

We have compiled a marked-up version of the entire PatA, to provide appropriate context and to ease understanding:

EXPLANATORY NOTES

The explanatory notes are also available in French and Italian.

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