Technical developments can be protected by "technical" intellectual property rights, i.e., by filing a patent or a utility model. The technical implementation of a problem solution represents an invention. Put into words and supported by illustrations, it forms the basis for a patent or utility model application. The condition for recognition as a patent: the invention must be novel, based on an inventive step and be commercially viable. Clarifying this is often a complex task. Once an invention has been defined, the customer can register protection in Switzerland or via our network of correspondents in more than 150 countries. Swisspat Riederer Hasler Patentanwälte AG  supports their clients from the discovery and formulation of their invention to the granting of their intellectual property rights in the desired countries.

A client may authorize or prohibit others from using the invention in countries where he has obtained patent protection. The term of protection is up to a maximum of twenty years after the filing date.

A typical time line from the idea to the grant of a patent is summarized in the adjacent diagram.