There were over 104,000 patents in force in Switzerland at the end of 2014. 93% of these have been examined by the European Patent Office and granted with effect for Switzerland. Only the remaining 7% are so-called unexamined national Patents.
In contrast, there are only around three dozen patent lawsuits per year in Switzerland. This corresponds to about 0.03 % of Patents. Why is the rate of patent litigation so low?
Most companies carry out patent clarifications in good time in order to circumvent protected solutions and avoid patent disputes. These are welcome findings for patent holders.
Nevertheless, it sometimes happens that a patent holder discovers a competitor who does not observe the granted patent. Conversely, when launching a new product on the market, you may suddenly come across a patent that you were not aware of.
How do you issue a Cease and Desist Letter to a competitor and how does a competitor react to a warning letter?
What is the legal significance of the Cease and Desist Letter for the parties involved?
What consequences can an obviously unjustified Cease and Desist Letter have?
More on this in grips 2015/3