The considerations on the items below are intended to provide a general overview of the Swiss legislation regarding patent rights, copyright, design and trademark rights. Each individual right to intellectual property and to use a distinctive symbol (industrial property) is described in general terms and each material and formal requirements to obtain these rights are exposed. In principle, according to doctrine and jurisprudence, there is no hierarchy among the different property rights; therefore, in the case of compliance with the respective requirements, the existence of a cumulative legal protection should rather be considered (Compendium of Trials of the Swiss Federal Court (BGE) 134 III 549, E. 2.1, with additional references).