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| Intellectual Property, in particular Patent Litigation in Switzerland Dr. iur. Andri Hess April 22, 2013.

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Presentation on theme: "| Intellectual Property, in particular Patent Litigation in Switzerland Dr. iur. Andri Hess April 22, 2013."— Presentation transcript:

1 | Intellectual Property, in particular Patent Litigation in Switzerland Dr. iur. Andri Hess April 22, 2013

2 | —Switzerland is a federation of 26 cantons —competence to legislate in the field of substantive civil law (including IP) lies with federation, while competence to organize judiciary and establish procedural law lied with the cantons —federal law requires cantons to denominate 1 court for intellectual property matters and provides for the possibility to appeal cantonal judgments to the Federal Supreme Court —only two court levels: Historic Framework Federal Supreme Court Cantonal court in Zurich; CCP Zurich Cantonal court in Berne; CCP Berne Cantonal court in Geneva; CCP Geneva 2April 22, 2013 …

3 | —26 different procedural laws  constitution amended in 2000; power to legislate in the field of civil procedure transferred to federal level; Federal Code of Civil Procedure enacted 1|1|2011 —many cantonal courts did not receive enough patent cases to build up experience  establishment of Federal Patent Court; Federal Patent Court became operative 1|1|2012 Evident Shortcomings, Remedied 3April 22, 2013

4 | —exclusive jurisdiction over all matters that involve questions of substantive patent law, in particular infringement and validity —concurrent jurisdiction with cantonal courts in all other civil actions associated with patents —first instance civil court, not criminal court and not court of appeals against decisions of the Swiss patent office —Federal Patent Court judgments can be appealed to the Federal Supreme Court —pro memoria: —Switzerland is a member of the European Patent Organisation | European Patent Convention … —… but not a member of the EU and the EEC —development in EU regarding a European patent with unitary effect and a unified patent court will not affect the Swiss system Federal Patent Court – Jurisdiction 4April 22, 2013

5 | —Judges —38 judges, the majority with a technical background —only 2 permanent judges, the others work in private practice or in the industry and are called only on case-by-case basis —strict conflict of interest management required —Deciding bodies —3 to 7 judges, always including technically trained judges —no need for external experts because technical knowledge is available within the deciding body Federal Patent Court – Distinctive Features 5April 22, 2013

6 | —Financing —not trough general state budget … —… but only through court fees and contributions from the Swiss patent office taken from the patent fees annually collected by the office —court fees: capped at CHF 150,000; e.g. CHF 20,000–66,000 for value in dispute of CHF 1 Mio —Languages —all 4 national languages (German, French, Italian, Rumantsch) may be used in parallel —in addition English if all parties agree —Court aims at duration of proceedings of 1 year; more realistic is 1½ years Federal Patent Court – Distinctive Features 6April 22, 2013

7 | Thank you for your attention. Dr. Andri Hess andri.hess@homburger.ch T +41 43 222 10 00 Homburger AG Prime Tower Hardstrasse 201 | CH-8005 Zürich Postfach 314 | CH-8037 Zürich www.homburger.ch


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