Answer ... The Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI) based in Bern.

Answer ... Applicants may request an expedited examination procedure (Article 63 of the Patents Ordinance). The fee for an expedited examination procedure is CHF 200. The official fee for filing a patent is CHF 200 for the first 10 claims. The examination fee is CHF 500. The examination fee is due before the start of substantial examination, on invitation and within the timeframe fixed by the IPI. A claims fee of CHF 50 must be paid for each additional claim beyond the 11th claim. Once approved, there is no grant or registration fee. After the fourth year from filing, a renewal fee of CHF 100 must be paid, which increases annually thereafter.

Renewal fees are then due every year on the last day of the month in which the patent application was filed. The fee must be paid within six months of the due date.

Answer ... Patents are granted for new inventions applicable in industry. Anything that may be considered obvious with regard to the state of the art (Article 7, paragraph 2 Federal Act on Patents for Inventions) is not patentable. The human body as such – at all stages of its formation and development, including the embryo – is not patentable. Elements of the human body in their natural environment are not patentable. However, an element of the human body is patentable as an invention if:

• it is produced by means of a technical process;
• a beneficial technical effect is indicated; and
• it is otherwise patentable.

A naturally occurring sequence or partial sequence of a gene is not patentable as such. However, sequences that are derived from a naturally occurring sequence or partial sequence of a gene may be patented if:

• they are produced by means of a technical process;
• their function is specifically indicated; and
• the further requirements (see Article 1 of the Federal Act on Patents for Inventions) are fulfilled.

Inventions whose exploitation would be contrary to human dignity, that disregard the integrity of living organisms or that are in any other way contrary to public policy or morality are not patentable. In particular, no patent may be granted for:

• processes for cloning human beings and the clones obtained thereby;
• processes for forming hybrid organisms by using human germ cells, human totipotent cells or human embryonic stem cells and the entities obtained thereby;
• processes of parthenogenesis by using human germinal material and the parthenogenetic entities obtained thereby;
• processes for modifying the germ line genetic identity of human beings and the germ line cells obtained thereby;
• unmodified human embryonic stem cells and stem cell lines;
• the use of human embryos for non-medical purposes; and
• processes for modifying the genetic identity of animals which are likely to cause them suffering without justification by overriding interests worthy of protection, and animals resulting from such processes.

Also excluded from patentability are:

• methods for treatment by surgery or therapy and diagnostic methods practised on the human or animal body; and
• plant varieties and animal varieties or essential biological processes for the production of plants or animals; however, subject to the reservations in the above paragraph, microbiological and other technical processes and the products obtained thereby, as well as inventions that concern plants or animals, are patentable if their application is not technically confined to a single plant or animal variety.

During the substantive examination, the IPI may find that an invention does not meet the statutory requirements – for example, because:

• it does not solve a problem using technical means;
• it is presented in such a way that a person skilled in the art cannot understand it;
• the claim scope is not clearly understood;
• the claims are not linked by a common inventive concept;
• modifications made go beyond the content of the original technical documents in a way that is not allowed; or
• the documents filed do not meet certain formal requirements.

Answer ... Examination may be accelerated by filing a request for expedited examination and paying a fee of CHF 200 before the start of the examination as to substance, on invitation and within the timeframe specified by the IPI. In part because there is no substantive examination, no Patent Prosecution Highway request is available.

Answer ... No particular claim type is expressly forbidden under Swiss law. On the contrary, unlike before the European Patent Office, the Swiss-type second medical use claim format is expressly allowed under Swiss law.

Answer ... There are no term adjustments for IPI delays. However, the applicant may file a request for a supplementary protection certificate (SPC) and a paediatric SPC. If granted, the term can be extended once for up to five years.

Answer ... Novel and industrially applicable products, processes/methods, substances and compositions that are not yet used for a specific purpose, and processes that are applied in a new field, are patent eligible.

Any substance or composition that forms part of the state of the art as such, but not in relation to a specific use in a surgical, therapeutic or diagnostic method that is distinct from the first medical use specified, is deemed to be new, provided that it is intended for use in the manufacture of a substance or composition that has a surgical, therapeutic or diagnostic purpose.

A patent cannot be granted for:

• acts undertaken within the private sphere for non-commercial purposes;
• acts undertaken for research or experimental purposes in order to learn about the subject matter of the invention, including its uses – in particular, scientific research concerning the subject matter of the invention is permitted;
• acts necessary to obtain marketing authorisation for a medicinal product in Switzerland or in countries with equivalent medicinal product control;
• the use of the invention for teaching purposes at educational institutions;
• the use of biological material for the purpose of the production or discovery and development of a plant variety;
• biological material that is discovered in the field of agriculture due to chance or that is technically unavoidable;
• acts undertaken in the course of medical activities concerning individual persons or animals and involving medicinal products – in particular, the prescription, dispensing or use of medicinal products by legally authorised persons; or
• the direct individual preparation of medicinal products in pharmacies in accordance with a doctor’s prescription or acts concerning medicinal products prepared in this way.

Answer ... Decisions of the IPI in patent matters may be appealed to the Federal Administrative Court in St Gallen, Switzerland.