Trademark and patent fees reduced again

The Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IGE) has once again reduced its fees for trademark and patent protection. The Federal Council approved the relevant amendment of the IGE Fee Ordinance on March 14 2008. The lower fees will take effect on July 1 2008.

Following several reductions in registration fees (see "Online application filing fees reduced again" and "Trademark fees slashed to make IP protection more attractive"), the IGE has now announced a reduction in the renewal fee for trademarks from Sfr700 to Sfr500. Furthermore, the additional fees for the fourth and any additional class for the renewal of national and international trademarks will be abolished. The annual fee for the seventh and eighth years will be reduced from Sfr310 to Sfr200. Patent owners will also benefit from this reduction.

This is the seventh reduction in fees since 1996. According to the IGE, the reductions represent a total amount of around Sfr40 million each year. According to the annual report of the IGE for the fiscal year 2006/2007 (from July 1 2006 to June 30 2007), 15,216 national and 26,120 international trademarks designating Switzerland (including renewals) were filed with the IGE. In contrast, there were 13,962 applications for national trademarks and 19,495 applications for international trademarks in the fiscal year 2005/2006. At the end of the fiscal year 2006/2007, 12,199 new trademark applications had been allowed, while 6,881 applications were still pending.

These figures show the attractiveness of the trademark protection system in Switzerland.

Marco Bundi, Meisser & Partners, Klosters