Facts
This case involved a dispute between the Swiss company A. AG and the Hong Kong company B. Ltd. over the question of who is entitled to two patent applications for coffee capsules and one patent application for a mechanism for piercing the coffee capsules. The parties met in Hong Kong from December 13 to 17, 2008 to settle this dispute. It is disputed whether the parties reached an agreement during this meeting.
On June 21, 2010, A. AG filed a lawsuit against B. Ltd. with the Commercial Court of the Canton of Bern to obtain the assignment of the patent applications for the coffee capsules. The Commercial Court dismissed the lawsuit.
By way of a civil law appeal, A. AG requested the Federal Supreme Court to set aside the judgment of the Commercial Court and to uphold the lawsuit. Alternatively, the matter should be remanded to the Commercial Court for a new assessment.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court decided that for contracts on the transfer of patent applications, according to Art. 122 PILA, the law of the state in which the person transferring the intellectual property right or granting the right to use it has its seat is applicable. Since B. Ltd. has its seat in Hong Kong, the law of Hong Kong is therefore applicable.
A…