As part of the Moldova–Switzerland Forum, held in Zurich on March 12–13, the organizers at INVEST MOLDOVA, in collaboration with the Moldovan Consulate in Switzerland, offered a unique opportunity for representatives of the government and business sectors: a tour of the Siemens (Siemens Global HQ), located in the city of Zug, which is rightly considered the “Silicon Valley” of Europe.

The decision to locate the headquarters of the German company Siemens in Switzerland is driven by a number of factors: extremely low taxes (particularly in the canton of Zug), political stability, a high quality of life, and access to a highly skilled workforce. Zurich serves as a financial and technological hub, while Zug is a center with a unique entrepreneurial ecosystem and a favorable tax regime.

Representatives from the engineering and project management departments at Siemens Global HQ gave us a tour of the facility’s infrastructure, production processes, safety automation systems, fire protection and other risk mitigation solutions, as well as the internal AI tools used to perform routine tasks.

A key part of the visit was a tour of the assembly, logistics, and component manufacturing facilities, which produce microchips, motion sensors, fire and water leak detection systems, ventilation solutions, and other products in the Siemens portfolio. Today, Siemens offers some of the most advanced corporate and industrial hardware and software solutions, including security systems with integrated artificial intelligence.

We were particularly interested in issues related to intellectual property protection, patenting, and the protection of Siemens’ industrial designs and technologies. Mr. Girish Nadigere, a representative of Regions Management at Siemens Switzerland AG (HQ), answered a number of questions from the ADVANCED LAWYERS team.

— How many intellectual property lawyers work at Siemens headquarters?

— The Legal Department is located on the 6th floor of the second building in the Siemens complex. Currently, there are about 5–7 lawyers working there, including specialists in intellectual property protection.

— How seriously does Siemens take patenting and IP protection in the areas of hardware and software?

— IP issues are now much more relevant than they were 10 years ago. With the rise in counterfeit production, particularly in China, Siemens is paying increasing attention to the territorial protection of the intellectual property rights for its developments and products.

We decided to delve deeper into the subject to demonstrate the close connection between one of the world’s leading technology companies, headquartered in Switzerland, and modern approaches to intellectual property protection. We were interested in conducting a preliminary analysis of Siemens’ patent portfolio.

During our search, we discovered a recent patent application related to IT technologies in the field of document processing and management using artificial intelligence, filed by Siemens headquarters. Based on our preliminary analysis, this patent describes a complex business process underpinned by AI capable of processing large data sets, structuring them, and producing relevant results.

Here is an excerpt from the description of the invention:

“Thus, the proposed solution is a mechanism in which artificial intelligence is trained on the content of the user’s documents. The device is automatically linked to the document. Once this link is established, the user can search for information related to maintenance tasks based on the document’s content and the associated device information. The electronic computing device has the ability to self-learn, improving the accuracy of search queries and generating more detailed queries to refine results. At the same time, the system displays only the information that a specific user is authorized to access. The search result consists of aggregated information from all documents, as well as the exact location of relevant data within them."

This example clearly demonstrates that Siemens remains a leading company, actively integrating cutting-edge technologies into its internal processes and client solutions.

For ADVANCED LAWYERS, this was a unique opportunity to explore an ecosystem where experts from around the world develop and implement hardware, software, IT solutions, and artificial intelligence technologies on a global scale.

The dialogue with Siemens representatives once again underscored the importance of a systematic approach to intellectual property protection, including patenting, software protection, and strategic IP management.

This visit was a truly valuable and inspiring experience for us. It allowed us not only to see the inner workings of one of the world’s leading technology companies but also to reaffirm the key role of intellectual property in the development of innovation and business.

With us, you can protect your trademarks, patents, industrial designs, and copyrights in Moldova, the EU, and around the world. We possess extensive expertise in patenting IT solutions and technological products.

Contact ADVANCED LAWYERS to learn more.