Structure
Holding company
Put a Swiss holding above the operating and IP companies to own and finance the group.
Holding companyBiotech & Life Sciences
in Switzerland.
In life sciences the company is mostly its intellectual property. Where the patents and trademarks sit, how they are held and licensed, and how the structure is taxed decide what the business is worth to a partner or an acquirer. We structure Swiss biotech and life-sciences companies around the IP, not around an off-the-shelf entity.
At a glance
Holding and IP structures built around the science and its value.
Independent since 2007 · IFLR1000-ranked · offices in Zurich and Zug · one partner per file.
- Core asset
- Patents, data, trademarks
- Structure
- IP held to be financed
- Tax
- International & licensing flows
- Protection
- Registered and enforced
The challenge
What this sector has to get right in Switzerland
A biotech's value lives in its IP estate (patents, regulatory data, know-how and brands), and the structure has to protect and mobilise that estate. Holding the IP in the operating company ties it to operational risk and makes it hard to license out or carve into a partnership; placing it in a dedicated IP holding company, owned through a Swiss holding, keeps it ring-fenced and financeable. Trademark and patent protection has to be filed and maintained in the right jurisdictions, and enforced when copied.
The tax dimension is inseparable from the structure. Cross-border licensing of IP, the migration of rights into a Swiss entity, and the substance behind that entity all interact with withholding, treaty access and the global minimum-tax rules. A structure that places IP in Switzerland without genuine substance and without planning the licensing flows invites challenge when the asset becomes valuable.
We build the holding and IP structure, register and protect the rights, and plan the international tax around real substance, so when a partnership, licence or acquisition arrives, the IP is held cleanly and the structure stands up to the buyer's diligence.
What this desk handles
The services this sector uses most
Each links to the service page itself. Most mandates here combine several; one partner co-ordinates them.
IP
IP holding company
Ring-fence patents, data and brands in a company built to hold and license them.
IP holding companyProtect
Patent & design protection
File and maintain patent and design rights in the jurisdictions that matter.
Patent & design protectionBrand
Swiss trademark registration
Register and protect the company and product trademarks.
Swiss trademark registrationDeals
IP due diligence
Establish and evidence clean title to the IP estate before a partnership or sale.
IP due diligenceTax
International tax structuring
Plan licensing flows, withholding and substance around the IP you hold.
International tax structuring Talk to the desk
Speak to a partner who knows the sector
No intake form to a junior, no call centre. The partner who reads your enquiry is the one who has run this structure before, and the one who will own your file. Outline your situation and you will have a considered reply, with the likely route and the next step, within one business day.
Why Goldblum and Partners
Swiss depth, one accountable partner
When a deal comes, the buyer's first question is whether the IP is held cleanly — and that is decided years earlier. We build the holding and IP structure with the tax and substance to match, have been independent since 2007, and have been ranked by IFLR1000 across editions from 2015 to 2026. One partner holds the structure, the IP and the tax together.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
01Why should a biotech company hold its IP in a separate company rather than the operating entity?
Holding intellectual property separately from the trading entity ring-fences patents, data and trademarks from the risks of running the business, and creates a clear licensing flow between the holding company and the operating company. Centralising ownership in one company also gives a single owner to manage, license and enforce the rights. The structure only works with real substance and arm's-length licence terms; without them it is a structure on paper that does not hold up.
02Does the Swiss patent box apply to biotech patents?
Qualifying patents can benefit from the cantonal patent box, available since the 2020 tax reform, which can reduce the cantonal tax on income from qualifying patents and comparable rights by up to 90 percent. Relief is subject to the nexus principle, which ties it to the research and development actually carried out. The patent box applies to patents and comparable rights, not trademarks, so how a biotech's IP portfolio is structured and licensed determines what qualifies.
03Can I lose patent protection for a biotech invention by disclosing it before filing?
Yes. Patent protection generally requires an invention to be new when filed, and disclosing it beforehand, at a conference, in a publication or in an investor pitch, even informally, can count as making it public and destroy the novelty the patent depends on. The same risk applies to registered designs. The discipline is to file before disclosing, or to disclose only under proper confidentiality. Researchers who talk first and file later can find they have given away the right.
04Does a Swiss patent get examined for novelty before it is granted?
No, not for a Swiss national patent. The Federal Institute of Intellectual Property examines the application formally but does not itself assess whether the invention is genuinely new and inventive; that question is only tested if the patent is later challenged. A European patent, obtained through the European Patent Office, is substantively examined. This means a granted Swiss patent is not a guarantee of validity, and a proper prior-art search before filing matters.
05Who owns a patent when the invention was made by an employee researcher?
Often the employer, but not automatically in every case. Where an employee makes an invention in the course of their work and in fulfilment of their duties, the rights generally belong to the employer; inventions made in connection with the work but outside those duties may belong to the employer only if agreed, sometimes against compensation; and inventions wholly outside the work belong to the employee. Proper employment and assignment terms confirm the company actually owns what it thinks it owns.
06How long does trademark protection last for a biotech or pharma brand name in Switzerland?
A registered Swiss trademark lasts ten years from filing and can be renewed indefinitely in ten-year periods, so a well-maintained mark can last as long as the business. It gives the exclusive right to use the sign for the goods and services it is registered for, and to stop others using a confusingly similar sign. Protection is territorial, covering Switzerland and Liechtenstein, so a company with international ambitions needs separate or international registration for other markets.
07What does IP due diligence check before a biotech licensing deal or acquisition?
IP due diligence verifies, before a deal, that the intellectual property a target or counterparty claims to own is real, validly owned, unencumbered and usable. It traces the chain of title back to the assignments behind it, checks the registers and agreements for encumbrances such as existing licences, pledges or disputes, and can assess freedom to operate against third-party rights. Where IP is a large part of a deal's value, the deal is only as good as the IP behind it.
08What is freedom to operate and why does it matter for a life-sciences product?
Freedom to operate is whether using the technology, making, selling or exploiting the product, would infringe someone else's rights. A company can validly own its own patents and trademarks and still not be free to operate, because a third party holds rights that its activity would infringe. A freedom-to-operate review looks for such third-party rights before a launch or a deal, because owning a right is not the same as being free to use it.
09AG or GmbH for a Swiss biotech holding company?
Usually an AG. A holding typically wants substance, a shareholder register that is not public, and shares that can move without a register entry, all of which the AG provides and the GmbH does not. A GmbH can hold participations perfectly well and costs less to capitalise, so for a small, single-owner holding it can be the right call. The right entity is confirmed against the group structure and the exit plan before it is formed.
10Why does a Swiss IP or holding structure need real substance rather than just registration?
Because a holding or IP company without substance is the one tax authorities disregard, leaving the cost of the structure without its benefit. To be respected, it needs real substance: people who genuinely manage the IP or participations, decisions actually taken there, premises and a real role, not a letterbox. A company that merely owns rights on paper, with decisions taken elsewhere, can be looked through, its income reattributed and its benefits denied.
The client's stories
What clients say
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Structuring a biotech or life-sciences company?
Tell us about the science, the IP and your partners. A partner will design the holding, IP and tax structure around it, and reply within one business day.
