Patent Attorney Ordinance
(PatAO)

¹The Fed­er­al Coun­cil as­signs to the joint as­so­ci­ation (Ex­am­in­a­tion Board) of the As­so­ci­ation of Swiss and European Pat­ent At­tor­neys in Private Prac­tice (VESPA), the As­so­ci­ation of Pat­ent At­tor­neys in Swiss In­dustry (VI­PS) and the As­so­ci­ation of Swiss Pat­ent and Trade­mark At­tor­neys (ASPTA) the fol­low­ing du­ties:

a.

ad­min­is­tra­tion of the Swiss Fed­er­al Pat­ent At­tor­ney Ex­am­in­a­tion.

b.

is­su­ing guidelines for the Pat­ent At­tor­ney Ex­am­in­a­tion.

c.

ap­point­ment of ex­am­iners.

d.

de­cid­ing on the passing or fail­ing of the ex­am­in­a­tion.

e.

de­cid­ing on the re­cog­ni­tion of for­eign pat­ent at­tor­ney ex­am­in­a­tions.

f.

es­tab­lish­ing fee reg­u­la­tions and sub­mit­ting them to the Fed­er­al Coun­cil for ap­prov­al.

g.

main­ten­ance of an of­fice.

²The Ex­am­in­a­tion Board is fin­anced by the fees levied for its rul­ings and ser­vices and by con­tri­bu­tions from its mem­bers.

³The du­ties of the Ex­am­in­a­tion Board are per­formed by the Ex­am­in­a­tion Com­mit­tee.