LIECHTENSTEIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Hannes Arnold, Thomas Nigg, Christina Pointner, Sebastian Auer, Johannes Sander, René Saurer and Marta Baftiaj, Gasser Partner
Enforcement and Remedies Liechtenstein provides civil law remedies for patent infringement, including injunctive relief to prevent fur - ther infringement, claims for damages or disgorge - ment of profits, and orders for the destruction, seizure or recall of infringing goods. Provisional measures, including preliminary injunctions, are available; fur - ther, patent infringements may also be punished under criminal law. 7.2 Trade Marks Definition A trade mark is a distinctive sign or symbol that serves to differentiate the goods or services of one enterprise from those of others. Trade marks can take various forms, including words, personal names, images, let - ters, numbers, colours, the shape, presentation or packaging of a product, sounds, or a combination of these elements. The primary function of a trade mark is to identify and distinguish the goods or services of a company; it also fulfils a marketing function, a pro - tective/defensive function and a guarantee function. Length of Protection The duration of protection is ten years from the filing date ( Anmeldedatum ). Registration can be renewed indefinitely for further ten-year periods. The renewal application must be filed within the last 12 months before expiry of the validity period or at latest within six months after expiry, subject to additional fees. Registration Process The main legislation is the Law Regarding the Protec - tion of Trade Marks and Geographical Indications (the “Trade Mark Protection Act”). An application must be filed with the Liechtenstein Office of Economic Affairs ( Amt für Volkswirtschaft ) in German. The application must contain the name of the applicant, address, reproduction of the trade mark, exact designation of the goods or services (following the Nice Classifica - tion) and proof of paid fees. Further, a trade mark own - er who has neither residence nor a registered office nor a branch in Liechtenstein must also have appoint - ed a local lawyer or patent agent; trade mark owners from the EEA or Switzerland must have appointed an agent for service of process. The representative/agent will be registered with the trade mark in the trade mark register, and it must be ensured to appoint such rep -
economic dependency. However, unilateral conduct may still be relevant under the UCA – ie, if it is unfair, deceptive, contrary to good faith, aggressive, involves undue influence over consumers, or involves abusive general terms or grossly detrimental contractual terms or business practices.
7. Intellectual Property 7.1 Patents Definition
A patent protects inventions of a technical nature that are new (ie, not obvious from the state of the art) and commercially exploitable. Liechtenstein does not have its own patent law or patent office; instead, patents are governed by Swiss patent law and administered by the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IGE) in Berne, pursuant to a bilateral Patent Protec - tion Treaty of 1978. Granted Swiss patents cover the territories of both Switzerland and Liechtenstein, irre - spective of the route of filing (Swiss national, Euro - pean regional via the EPO or PCT international). Length of Protection The maximum term of patent protection is 20 years from the filing date, always provided that the annual fees are paid. Otherwise, the patent expires. Supple - mentary Protection Certificates (SPCs) are available for pharmaceutical products and plant protection products. Registration Process Swiss/Liechtenstein patent applications are not exam - ined on the merits for novelty and inventive step but are only examined on formal issues. It is therefore up to the applicant to file enforceable claims that patent - ably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. A patent may also be obtained via the Europe - an Patent Office (EPO) by designating Switzerland/ Liechtenstein, or through the international PCT route. Given that Swiss patents share various characteristics with utility patents and petty patents (except for the 20-year term), the currently applicable law does not provide for the possibility of obtaining utility patents.
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