Applying for patents

An invention disclosure provides the most important information about your invention, which allows a technology manager at ETH transfer to make an initial assessment as to whether it makes sense to file a patent for your invention.

Inventors at ETH Zurich must report to ETH transfer, in writing, every invention that is made in the course of their employment. Mandatory reporting also applies to patent applications filed in the name of a company on which you are named as an inventor, for example as a result of a research collaboration. Exceptions include:

• Private inventions not made in the scope of the employment contract and without having used the infrastructure of ETH Zurich;
• Inventions by students within the scope of their Bachelor or Master thesis (and if no other employees contributed);
• Inventions by professors within the scope of consulting activity and without having used the infrastructure of ETH Zurich    

For more details and guidance please refer to Download ETH Exploitation Guidelines (PDF, 267 KB)

After having evaluated your invention disclosure, ETH transfer will jointly take the first decision as to whether a patent application makes sense in principle or not. Whether a commercial exploitation of the patent is desirable and is possible plays a major role here.

Positive decision: We will link you with a patent attorney. The attorney will draft together with you the patent specification and the corresponding patent claims. ETH transfer will take over the administration of the case; you as the inventor remain responsible for the technical content and information. We will jointly look for a licensee for the exploitation.

Negative decision: If neither ETH transfer nor the responsible institute/professorship support the patenting and commercial exploitation of an invention, the rights can be assigned to the inventors privately. These inventors can file for a patent in their own name and at their private cost, and exploit it independently of ETH Zurich.