IP | IT | Law

Since 1 January 2025, new mandatory rules apply in Switzerland for medium-sized enterprises regarding the waiver of the limited audit (opting out). The decisive change is that such a waiver may now only be declared before the start of a new financial year and no longer retroactively. These statutory amendments entail significant practical and legal consequences for boards of directors, management bodies and SMEs, ranging from deadline planning and commercial register filings to the role of the audit firm.

A landmark ruling by the High Court in London in the Getty Images v. Stability AI case has drawn clear boundaries for trademark and copyright laws in relation to AI image generators. Find out here what consequences this ruling has for rights holders and developers in Switzerland and which questions remain unanswered.

Switzerland is at a turning point in its data policy. With the planned framework law on the secondary use of data, the Federal Council wants to create the legal basis for making existing data sets usable beyond their original purpose. This project touches on central issues of data protection law and requires a precise balance between innovation, legal certainty, and the protection of privacy.

The Swiss Federal Administrative Court (BVGer) has issued a landmark ruling: Artificial intelligence cannot be registered as the inventor of a patent. Only natural persons can claim this status—provided they have participated in the AI process, recognized the invention, and submitted the application. The FAC is thus setting a clear standard for AI-supported innovations—with far-reaching consequences for companies, patent strategies, and future legal developments.

Digitalisation and, in particular, the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) pose new challenges for copyright law. On 11 November 2025, the 42nd Civil Chamber of the Regional Court of Munich I, which specialises in copyright law, issued a landmark ruling in the case "GEMA v. OpenAI". It thus strengthens the position of authors vis-à-vis AI providers and obliges OpenAI to cease and desist and potentially pay damages for the use of copyrighted song lyrics in the training and operation of its language models. The judgement is not legally binding, but has a signal effect for the entire industry

With the recently launched consultation procedure on the new Federal Act on Communication Platforms and Search Engines, the Federal Council aims to require major online platforms and search engines such as Google, Facebook, TikTok and X to ensure greater fairness, transparency and user rights. Users are to be better protected in the future—from reporting and complaint procedures to clear information requirements and greater data and advertising transparency. This is a historic step toward regulating digital infrastructure in Switzerland.

Cookies make surfing the web easier, save settings and enable targeted advertising. At the same time, they raise significant data protection issues. In his latest guidelines, the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) has specified the requirements that companies and website operators must observe when using cookies in Switzerland. The main focus is on consent requirements, tracking and the processing principles of the Data Protection Act (DPA). Which cookies are still permitted, when explicit consent is required and what requirements are placed on consent banners - we clarify the most important questions.