Jacques Troesch

    20200609_TSW_Portraits-3516 (1)

    Of-Counsel / Senior IP Expert


    Swiss Patent Attorney / European Patent Attorney


    MSc ETH / Dr. Sc. Nat. ETH

    Why am I a patent attorney?

    “Looking back on my work as a patent attorney, I was – and still am – fascinated by the idea of being responsible for advising clients for many years on IP strategies, dealing with competitors in a way that is sustainable and mutually beneficial, and thus finding solutions in potential disputes. Furthermore, a lot of creativity is involved in bringing to life the basic principles of new developments, thinking about technical solutions and how to formulate these and defend them before offices. The belief that only laws are set in stone and that each case must be judged in that context only on the basis of previous case law leads to an array of reasoning that can be used with the utmost creativity in adversarial proceedings, which further increases the fascination with our profession.”

    Fields of activity

    • Patent searches
    • Freedom To Operate (FTO) and infringement analysis
    • Patent applications
    • Patent examination proceedings
    • Patent opposition proceedings
    • Patent appeal proceedings
    • Patent limitation proceedings
    • Designs
    • Expert opinions
    • Advice and coordination in disputes
    • IP strategy consulting
    • Instruction and training on IP basics, procedures, and strategy

    Career and experience

    Jacques Troesch works as a Swiss and European patent attorney, focusing on surface and vacuum technology. Over the course of his long career, however, he has already worked in many technical fields, mainly relating to electronics and physics.

    Jacques Troesch joined Dr. Troesch AG in 1961, shortly after the firm had been founded. When Scheidegger, Werner & Co. and Dr. Troesch AG merged to form Troesch Scheidegger Werner AG (TSWpat!) in 1990, Jacques Troesch became a partner. During the restructuring and the founding of Swiss IP Partners Holding AG in 2013, Jacques Troesch resigned as a partner but continued to work for Troesch Scheidegger Werner AG as an experienced patent attorney and trainer until autumn 2022. Since then, Jaques Troesch still supports TSWpat! as an of-counsel.

    After being undecided between medicine, music and technical studies for a long time, Jacques Troesch finally decided to undertake technical studies. Following positions at Marconi, Siemens and IBM, a call from his father requesting assistance in his patent attorney firm brought him into closer contact with patents. From a very early stage, he had the opportunity to work under the expert guidance of Prof. Mario Pedrazzini and discussed the complexity of legal validity and infringement issues with him for hours on end. This complexity and the logic thereof increasingly fascinated him, and therefore he decided to join his father’s firm on a full-time basis. With his father’s blessing, he was able to satisfy his remaining longing for research and development on a part-time basis, undertaking a doctorate over the course of 10 years. The resulting patent applications and the discussions (at that time still undertaken by the EPO) with European examiners that took place in the ETH laboratories up until the patent was granted allowed him to gain practical experience of patent grant mechanisms.
    Jacques Troesch is an electrical engineering graduate from ETH Zurich. During his studies, he worked partly in industry in Switzerland (Siemens, IBM) and in England (Marconi Instr.), particularly in the field of radar and microwave technology. After a two-year break due to military service, during which he trained as a company commander of the mountain infantry, he started his career in the erstwhile office of Dr. Hans Troesch, while at the same time working on his interdisciplinary doctoral thesis at ETH, involving behavioral research, inorganic chemistry, sensor technology, and control technology. This work gained him the title of Dr. sc. nat. and an award from ETH. Since then, Jacques Troesch has worked as a patent attorney. In 1989, he was also elected as an extraordinary commercial judge, particularly for patent and trademark matters, at the Commercial Court of Zurich, but now focuses once again exclusively on his work as a patent attorney. From 2003 to 2009, he also taught on the post-graduate course Intellectual Property at ETH, focusing on infringement proceedings.

    ASPTA (Association of the Swiss Patent and Trademark Attorneys)

    FICPI (International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys)

    AIPPI (Association Internationale pour la Protection de la Propriété Intellectuelle)

    epi (Institute of Professional Representatives before the European Patent Office)

    VESPA (Verband der freiberuflichen Europäischen und Schweizer Patentanwälte)