Swiss patent law 2027, explained by a duck

1. When does it start?

The partially revised Swiss Patents Act comes into force on 1 January 2027. The Federal Council set that date at its meeting of 20 May 2026. The IPI summarises the revision.

The changes concern the national route: patent applications filed with the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI). A European patent granted by the EPO and validated in Switzerland has its own procedure, which this article does not cover.

2. A search for every application

Until now, a Swiss patent could be granted without anyone at the IPI checking whether the invention was new. From 2027, the IPI carries out a fee-based search of the state of the art for every application and sums up the key findings in a report. The search report is published on Swissreg together with the application. The IPI explains what changes for applicants.

Why a duck cares. A search report tells you, early, what stands in the way of your invention. It is cheaper to learn that from a report than from a competitor’s lawyer.

3. Partial or full examination?

After the search, you choose how deep the examination goes.

• Partial substantive examination: the application is checked against various legal requirements, but not for novelty and inventive step.
• Full substantive examination, on request: the IPI examines all the patentability requirements, including novelty and inventive step.

These are the office’s fees only. Drafting and representation are separate. Source: the IPI’s patent law 2027 page.

4. English, please

If you file the technical documents in English, you no longer need to have them translated into German, French or Italian: applications can be published in English. Voluntary translations into an official language are still allowed. The IPI on languages.

One catch, noted on DO’s page on the revision: the title and the abstract still have to be in an official language.

5. Annual fees start a year earlier

Annual fees (renewal fees) become payable from the third year after filing, instead of from the fourth. The new amounts apply to patents whose annual fees fall due from 1 March 2027. Over a patent’s maximum term, the IPI puts the total increase at 8%. The IPI on renewal fees.

Quill is not going to recite eighteen years of fees at you. The link to the year-by-year amounts waits at the end of this page.

6. Already filed? The transition

• No examination fee paid yet: a pending application automatically falls under the new law. If it was filed before 1 January 2027 and no examination fee has been paid by then, the search fee is CHF 400. The IPI sends an invoice for all pending applications once the new law is in force, payable within one month.
• Examination fee already paid: you can still ask for examination under the new law, until 1 April 2027.

The IPI sets out the transitional provisions. Pending cases are exactly where a human should look at your file before a deadline does.

7. Appeals go to the Federal Patent Court

Appeals against the IPI’s decisions in patent matters will be heard by the Federal Patent Court, rather than the Federal Administrative Court. DO’s page on the revision covers this and the other procedural changes.