Where Swiss filing activity actually lands
Using the WIPO Statistical Database's origin-to-destination filing matrix for 2014 to 2024, this analysis looks at:
How Swiss-origin applicants split their filing between home and abroad
How that balance has shifted over the decade
Where their outbound filings actually go
Who files into Switzerland from abroad
It's part of a wider look at this same question across a dozen major filing nationalities, covered in full here, if you'd like the broader comparison alongside the Swiss-specific detail below.
In 2024, Swiss-origin applicants filed 57,419 trademark applications worldwide. Of those, only 13,565 (23.6%) were filed with the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property, while 43,854 (76.4%) were filed abroad.
Put another way: for roughly every domestic application a Swiss applicant files, more than three are also filed abroad, a ratio of 3.23 international filings for every domestic one, among the most internationally weighted balances of any major filing nationality.
Has outbound volume grown, shrunk, or held steady?
Switzerland's split has stayed heavily tilted toward abroad for the entire decade, with the ratio narrowing somewhat but never coming close to reversing.
Source: WIPO Statistical Database, applicant origin-to-destination office filing data, 2014 to 2024.
Domestic share climbed from 19.1% in 2014 to 23.6% in 2024, a real but modest gain, and the underlying volumes tell a similar story: domestic filing grew from 11,683 to 13,565 applications while outbound filing actually declined from 49,526 to 43,854 over the same period. Even after that shift, Swiss applicants still file more than three applications abroad for every one filed at home, a ratio far higher than what a domestic market of Switzerland's size would suggest on its own, reflecting how export-oriented much of the Swiss business base is.
Where Swiss applicants actually file abroad
Looking at 2024, Swiss outbound filings spread across a genuinely wide set of destinations without one single market dominating:
Rank | Destination | Swiss-Origin Applications (2024) |
|---|---|---|
1 | European Union (EUIPO) | 3,995 |
2 | United States | 2,554 |
3 | United Kingdom | 2,298 |
4 | Mexico | 1,414 |
5 | Japan | 1,221 |
6 | Brazil | 1,197 |
7 | Canada | 1,191 |
8 | China | 1,113 |
9 | India | 943 |
10 | Argentina | 921 |
The EU trademark office leads, but only accounts for roughly 9% of total Swiss outbound filings, far from a dominant share. The rest of the top ten is unusually diverse for a European origin, spanning the US, UK, Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Argentina), and Asia (Japan, China, India) at broadly comparable volumes, consistent with a filing base built around global commercial reach rather than a primary regional market.
Who files into Switzerland from abroad
Switzerland draws an exceptionally large amount of foreign filing activity relative to its own domestic volume. Of the 32,116 total applications filed with the Swiss office in 2024, 18,551 (57.8%) came from applicants based outside Switzerland, well over half of all Swiss filing activity. The largest foreign filer nationalities were:
Rank | Origin | Applications Filed in Switzerland (2024) |
|---|---|---|
1 | Germany | 4,761 |
2 | United States | 2,880 |
3 | France | 2,040 |
4 | China | 1,332 |
5 | Italy | 1,103 |
6 | United Kingdom | 829 |
7 | Australia | 597 |
8 | Netherlands | 444 |
9 | Japan | 417 |
10 | Sweden | 342 |
Germany is the largest source of foreign filing into Switzerland, well ahead of the United States in second place, a distinctive pattern shaped by proximity, shared language in much of the country, and deep commercial ties between the two economies.
How that outbound volume is actually being filed
A large pool of outbound filing is only half the picture; the other half is how it's getting filed, and here Switzerland looks different from almost every other filing nationality. Our earlier analysis of Madrid System adoption rates found that the share of total Swiss filing activity arriving via Madrid has stayed remarkably high throughout the decade, at 44.4% in 2014, peaking at 50.9% in 2022, and still at 43.8% in 2024. Unlike markets where direct filing overwhelmingly dominates, close to half of all Swiss filing activity moves through Madrid, a reflection of how central the system has long been to Swiss filing practice.
What this means in practice
Switzerland is a market where the large majority of filing activity happens abroad, spread across a genuinely diverse set of destinations rather than concentrated in one, where foreign filing into the domestic office is unusually high and led by Germany rather than China, and where Madrid remains a mainstream filing route rather than a shrinking one.
For firms handling outbound work for Swiss clients, this is one of the few major origins where a serious Madrid strategy, not just a direct filing comparison, needs to be part of the conversation. Trama's WIPO cost and risk calculator can help size up the Madrid versus direct filing decision for any specific Switzerland-outbound combination.
For how Switzerland compares to other major filing nationalities, and the aggregate trend across all of them, see the full WIPO trademark filing analysis.
