From E-Cigarettes To Lab Devices: Surprising Facts About Swiss Patents

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Switzerland is the most innovative country in Europe in terms of patents, according to statistics from the European Patent Office (EPO) in Munich. Swiss companies, researchers and developers registered 9,914 patents last year – more per capita than anywhere else. Here are the five most exciting points about the new statistics. This content was published on April 15, 2026 - 10:00 4 minutes SRF

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1 Roche beats Novartis

Roche is the Swiss company that registered the most patents with the European Patent Office last year: 681 inventions and developments. By comparison, Novartis has 94 registered patents.

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The fact that Roche is at first glance much more innovative than its competitor can be explained by the fact that Roche not only develops medicines, but also machines. These are laboratory devices for diagnostics, i.e. for recognising diseases. The machines analyse blood samples, among other things. Novartis does not have a comparable diagnostics division.

2. One in ten patents for e-cigarettes

The two cigarette companies Philip Morris International and Japan Tobacco International stand out: last year, the two companies together filed more than 1,000 patents from Switzerland. That is a good 10% of all registered patents.

“Since 2008, we have invested more than $14 billion (CHF11 billion) in the development, manufacture and commercialisation of smoke-free products,” writes Luisa Biegmann, spokesperson for Philip Morris, in response to an enquiry. A significant part of the development is taking place in Switzerland, at the global research centre in Neuchâtel with around 1,500 employees.

Japan Tobacco International (JTI), based in Geneva, is also undergoing radical change. The company plans to invest almost CHF4 billion ($5.1 billion) worldwide by 2028, writes JTI. The focus is on tobacco heaters. The new technologies are complex in terms of electronics, materials, chemistry, batteries and device software.

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