Protection of Graphical User Interfaces as Registered Design Rights or Design Patents in Switzerland

• Official fee for filing a registered design application in Switzerland starts at CHF 200 for one design.
• For the subsequent designs in the same application the fee is CHF 100 per design.
• The fee is CHF 700 in total if six or more designs are filed in the same application.
• The publication fee is CHF 20 for each image (from the second image).

• The renewal fee is the same as the basic filing fee. It is due five years after the last filing, for up to a maximum of 25 years. 
• There is a late renewal fee of CHF 50 per design that is filed up to 6 months after the protection has expired.

• Once the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI) has examined the application, and assuming no objections are raised, the design could be registered within a few days.
• Once the design is registered, the IPI publishes the design (unless the applicant has applied to defer the registration, see Q7).

The grace period in Switzerland is 12 months from the first disclosure of the relevant design. Disclosures by an applicant will not count as prior art during this grace period. 

Up to 30 months.

If the applicant wishes to be represented, the IPI may require a written POA. Such authorisation is generally requested in cases where the representative is appointed only after the design has been filed with the IPI.

The IPI does not require submission of priority documents (such as WIPO DAS codes) unless there are doubts regarding the validity or accuracy of the priority claim. In such cases, the IPI will set a deadline for the submission of the relevant documents.

Aside from formalities, the IPI's substantive examination is limited to three exclusion grounds. A design application will be refused if (i) the subject matter clearly does not qualify as a “design” under Swiss law (e.g. abstract concepts or diagrams), (ii) violates federal law or international treaties (e.g. use of protected emblems), or (iii) is manifestly contrary to public order or accepted principles of morality (e.g. racist or offensive imagery). 

No, examiners do not perform prior art searches. IPI examiners do not assess the design’s novelty or individual character against existing prior art. However, once the design is registered, third parties may challenge its validity through post-registration invalidity proceedings or as a defence in court actions for injunctive relief.

• Yes, priority claims are examined. However, such examination is limited to formal requirements only. This includes verifying whether (i) the priority claim was made at the time of filing the design application and (ii) the country and date of the first filing are indicated. It is generally recommended to provide the application number or registration number, if applicable, of the earlier filing.
• The IPI does not assess substantive requirements of the priority claim, such as whether the earlier application was indeed the first filing or whether the designs are identical in content. Such matters are left to be determined, if necessary, in adversarial proceedings before the courts.
• When examining priority claims, designs are considered ‘identical’ if they differ only in details that can be qualified as ‘immaterial’.

No, it’s not possible to oppose a Swiss design application at the application stage before the IPI. The only opportunity to challenge a design is through an invalidity action in court after registration.

There is no maximum number of representations permitted per design in Switzerland. However, from the second representation onwards, additional publication fees apply (see Q3). It is also essential that all representations clearly relate to the same design — for example, they must not differ in type, colour scheme or style, as inconsistencies may lead to rejection or limit the clarity of the design disclosure.

• Yes, a sequence of animations can be protected within a single design application in Switzerland.
• The animation must be shown through a series of static images that clearly illustrate a visual progression of the same design. Videos are not accepted.
• There is no fixed limit on the number of images, but they must be visually related and form a coherent sequence.

• Written disclaimers are allowed. However, they are purely explanatory and cannot extent the scope of protection. Furthermore, they are limited to a maximum of 100 characters per design. No additional fee applies.
• Written disclaimers allow the applicant to express which elements are particularly worthy of protection. Overly technical or detailed descriptions (e.g. materials or functionality) may unintentionally limit the scope of protection. It is therefore advisable to avoid potentially restrictive wording.

The IPI accepts various types of design representations, including black-and-white and colour drawings, computer-generated images, and photographs. The design must be depicted clearly, with good image quality and in a format suitable for reproduction. For clarity and legal certainty, line drawings are often preferred, as photos may reduce the design’s scope due to material specificity. In Switzerland, dotted lines are accepted and used to depict additional elements that help to clarify the design, but which are not themselves part of the design registration.

• A GUI may also be protected under copyright law as a graphic work, provided it displays "individual character". It must be the result of the author’s own intellectual creation and not a copy of existing works.
• Registration as a trademark is likely to be difficult for an entire GUI due to the lack of distinctive character. However, individual elements, such as icons or logos, appearing within a GUI may still be eligible for trademark protection.

In addition to a registered design right, other intellectual property rights may exist in parallel. For example, a GUI can be protected as a registered design, offering up to 25 years of protection. At the same time, if the GUI - or specific elements such as logos or graphic components - qualifies as a graphic work, it may also benefit from copyright protection, which lasts for the life of the creator plus 70 years. Moreover, GUI elements may be registered as trademarks, providing potentially indefinite protection, subject to timely renewal. They can all be asserted cumulatively.

Attempts to protect abstract design ideas or principles through GUI design applications may encounter difficulties under Swiss design law. The Swiss system protects only the concrete visual appearance of a design as filed - such as a specific sequence of images or screen layouts - not broader concepts like styles of animation, types of motion, or method of transformation of on-screen elements. Since design protection is limited to what is visibly represented in the registration, designers should be aware that general design ideas or visual principles which may take multiple forms are not eligible for protection. The design must be clearly and specifically depicted in order to be enforceable.

• While GUIs are eligible for protection under Swiss design law (typically falling under class 14-04 of the Locarno Classification), they raise specific challenges in defining the scope of protection — only what is visually represented is protected. It is therefore essential to carefully prepare accurate and coherent representations, particularly where animation or interactive sequences are involved.
• The IPI examines whether the submitted views relate to a single design. Accordingly, when filing multiple frames of a GUI (e.g. to depict an animation), the representations must be visually consistent — using the same colours, fonts, proportions, and design elements — and clearly illustrate a coherent progression.
• To clearly define the scope of protection and avoid any misinterpretation, it is advisable to use both visual (dotted lines, see Q17) and, where appropriate, written disclaimers. A short written disclaimer (limited to 100 characters under Swiss practice) may be submitted to further clarify which features are not claimed.
• Given the technical and legal complexities involved in registering GUIs as designs in Switzerland, we strongly recommend seeking specialised legal advice. Careful representation is key to securing robust and enforceable protection.

• Swiss design law was developed in alignment with the Hague Agreement, and its provisions - particularly concerning the scope of protection, deferment, and representation requirements - are substantially harmonised with the Hague system. As a result, Hague filings designating Switzerland are generally fully compatible with Swiss national practice (see Q8-17).
• While WIPO conducts a central formalities check, the substantive examination is carried out by each designated IP office according to its national law. In Switzerland, the IPI only examines formal requirements and a limited set of substantive grounds (such as public order and design eligibility), but does not assess novelty or individual character, see Q10.
• Switzerland allows deferred publication for up to 30 months, in line with the maximum provided under the Hague Agreement and similar to EU practice.
• For completeness, it is important to mention that a filing through the Hague System designating Switzerland does not require a prior national application with the Swiss IPI. Applicants may file directly via the Hague System to obtain protection in Switzerland.

As Swiss design law already recognises and protects GUIs under the current legal framework, there is little need for legislative reform in this area. Consequently, no significant changes to the law or practice are expected with respect to the protection of GUIs.