Commentaries: Art. 48

The patent may not be invoked against any person who, during the following periods, has commercially used an invention in good faith in Switzerland or who has made special preparations for that purpose:
1. between the last day of the time limit stipulated for payment of a patent renewal fee (…¹) and the day on which a request for further processing (Art. 46a ) or a request for re-establishment of rights (Art. 47) was filed;
2. between the last day of the priority period (Art. 17 para. 1) and the day on which the patent application was filed.²
This prior user right is governed by Article 35 paragraph 2.
Any person claiming a prior user right based on paragraph 1 lettera must pay the proprietor of the patent appropriate compensation from the date on which the patent is revived.
In the event of dispute, the court shall decide on the existence and on the extent of the rights claimed by prior use and on the amount of compensation to be paid in accordance with paragraph 3.

Reference deleted by Annex No 4 of the FA of 24 March 1995 on the Statute and Tasks of the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property, with effect from 1 Jan. 1996 (AS 1995 5050;BBl 1994 III 964). ↩
Amended by No I of the FA of 3 Feb. 1995, in force since 1 Sept. 1995 (AS 1995 2879;BBl 1993 III 706) ↩

Art. 48