Judges

Apart from two permanent judges, the Federal Patent Court has 42 non-permanent judges, of whom 30 possess technical training and 12 legal training. All of them have proven knowledge of patent law.

Administrative Committee

The Administrative Committee consists of one permanent judge acting as President, Mark Schweizer, the second permanent judge, Tobias Bremi and the Vice-President, Frank Schnyder.

Panels

Regular proceedings:

The individual cases are heard by panels consisting of three, five or seven judges. Each panel is comprised of legally trained and technically trained specialists. Designation of the members of the panels is done according to expertise criteria.

Preliminary measures:

The President sitting alone adopts decisions on preliminary measures. Where required for legal or factual reasons, the President will involve two other judges in a panel of three to decide on preliminary measures. Where the understanding of a technical matter is of particular significance, decisions must be made in a panel of three.