Legal

Privacy policy

Protecting your personal data matters to us – not least because confidentiality lies at the heart of our profession. This privacy policy explains which personal data we process, for what purposes, and what rights you have. It is based on the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP) and, where applicable, takes into account the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

1. Controller

Patentanwaltskanzlei Nückel
Thomas Nückel, Patent Attorney
Eichweidstrasse 22
8820 Wädenswil, Switzerland
Phone +41 41 620 90 15
Email kanzlei@patente.fm

Please contact us at this address with any questions about data protection or to exercise your rights.

2. Visiting this website

When you access this website, your browser automatically transmits information to the server of our hosting provider KreativMedia, based in Zurich, Switzerland, for technical reasons. In particular, the following data may be recorded in server log files: IP address, date and time of access, page requested, amount of data transferred, referrer URL, and browser type and operating system.

This data is used solely to provide the website, to ensure its security and stability, and to prevent misuse. It is not combined with other data sources or analysed for marketing purposes. Log files are deleted after a short period unless they are needed to investigate a security incident. The legal basis under the GDPR is our legitimate interest in operating the website securely (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

3. No cookies, no tracking

This website does not use cookies, analytics or tracking tools, or advertising services. Fonts, images and scripts are loaded exclusively from our own server; no third-party content is embedded.

4. Contacting us

If you contact us by email, phone or letter, we process the information you provide (e.g. name, contact details, content of your enquiry) in order to respond to your request and, where applicable, to prepare an engagement. The legal basis under the GDPR is the performance of pre-contractual measures or our legitimate interest in responding to enquiries (Art. 6(1)(b) and (f) GDPR).

Please note that unencrypted emails are not protected against access by third parties in transit. For confidential information – such as unpublished inventions – we recommend agreeing on a secure method of transmission with us in advance.

5. Client matters and professional secrecy

In the course of an engagement, we process the data of our clients and of other persons involved (e.g. inventors, contact persons, opposing parties) to the extent necessary to carry out the mandate. This includes, in particular, filings, proceedings and deadline monitoring before patent and trademark offices and courts.

As a patent attorney, we are bound by professional secrecy. All information entrusted to us in connection with an engagement is treated as strictly confidential.

6. Disclosure to third parties and abroad

We only disclose personal data where this is necessary to carry out an engagement, where you have consented, or where we are legally obliged to do so. Recipients may include in particular:

• patent and trademark offices and courts, e.g. IGE and BPatGer (Switzerland), EPO, DPMA, BPatG, BGH, EUIPO and WIPO
• selected patent attorneys and lawyers in Switzerland and abroad with whom we work on your matter
• carefully selected service providers who support us technically (e.g. hosting, email, IT support) and who are contractually bound to confidentiality

If an engagement requires protecting your rights abroad, data will necessarily be transferred to authorities and representatives in the respective country – including countries whose level of data protection does not correspond to that of Switzerland. Such transfers take place because they are necessary to perform the engagement or to enforce legal claims (Art. 17(1)(b) and (d) FADP; Art. 49(1)(b) and (e) GDPR). Please also note that applications filed with patent and trademark offices may be published by law.

7. Retention

We retain personal data for as long as necessary for the respective purpose. Client files and business records are kept in accordance with statutory and professional retention obligations, generally for ten years after the end of the engagement; for rights that are still in force, longer if necessary to manage them.

8. Data security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data against loss, misuse and unauthorised access. The connection to this website is secured by TLS encryption (https).

9. External links

This website contains links to third-party websites, such as Google Maps (“Get directions”) or professional organisations. Only when you click on such a link do you leave our website; the privacy policy of the respective provider then applies. We have no influence on their data processing.

10. Your rights

Within the scope of applicable data protection law, you have in particular the right to

• request information on whether and which personal data we process about you
• have inaccurate data corrected
• request the erasure of your data or the restriction of its processing
• receive your data in a common electronic format
• object to processing or withdraw any consent given at any time

Statutory retention obligations and professional secrecy may prevent erasure or disclosure. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority – in Switzerland the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC, edoeb.admin.ch), in the EU the data protection authority of your country of residence.

11. Changes

We may amend this privacy policy at any time. The version published on this website applies.

Last updated: October 2026. This is a translation; in case of discrepancies, the German version prevails.