Patentability

Patentability concerns the legal requirements an invention must satisfy to be protected by a patent. In Swiss and European practice, the invention must generally be technical, new, involve an inventive step and be capable of industrial application. Certain subject matter is excluded or limited, such as discoveries as such, abstract methods, some medical methods and inventions contrary to public order or morality. Patentability is assessed against the claims, the prior art and the technical contribution disclosed in the application.