Guidelines and laws
IP and exploitation regulations
The IP and exploitation regulations govern the commercial exploitation of research results at ETH Zurich, especially the exploitation of inventions and computer programs. The guidelines are mandatory for all employees at ETH Zurich.
Since July 1st, 2026, new regulations are in place.
Some of the major changes are:
- Clarification of student’s IP rights and in which cases they may be or must be transferred to ETH, respectively (Art. 6)
- Governing rules for a long-term patent portfolio: establishment of a strategic committee (Art. 14)
- Clarification of use of sale of equity in ETH Spin-offs (Art. 18)
- Submission process for the commercialization of software (Art. 24)
- Policies and guidelines for Open-Source Software (Art. 27)
ETH Zurich Guidelines
RSETHZ 440.4 "IP and exploitation regulations"
RSETHZ 440.5 "Business Creation Regulations of ETH Zurich"
RSETHZ 440.51 "Equity and Licensing Policy of ETH Zurich"
RSETHZ 414.2 "Guidelines for Research Data Management at ETH Zurich"
Swiss Laws and Regulations
Swiss copyright law (external page SR 231.1)
Federal Act on the Federal Institutes of Technology (ETH law) (external page SR 414.110)
Leistungskontrollenverordnung ETH Zürich (only in DE, FR and IT) (external page SR 414.135.1)
Verordnung des ETH-Rates über die Immaterialgüter im ETH-Bereich (German only) (external page SR 414.172)
external page Weisungen des ETH-Rates über die Beteiligungen an Unternehmungen im ETH-Bereich (German only)
ETH Zurich Library
ETH Research Collection: Repository for research data, publications, and open source software
ETH Data Archive: Deposit for proprietarily licensed software and data/databases.
Templates and Forms
link to templates by ETH transfer
Further links
external page Open Source Initiative
Swiss copyright external page (webpage IPI)