The purpose of the company is to acquire and hold patents and trademarks, grant licenses to subsidiaries or third parties, maintain central data storage, manage and dispose of participations, and conduct financial transactions. The company may participate in other companies, acquire, exploit, manage and dispose of real estate and intellectual property rights, establish subsidiaries and branches in Switzerland and abroad, and perform all legal acts that may be necessary or suitable to promote its development or that of group companies. The company may grant direct or indirect financing to third parties, including companies in which it has a direct or indirect interest, its direct or indirect shareholders, and companies in which such parties have a direct or indirect interest, whether through loans or other financing, including within the framework of cash pooling agreements, and provide security of any kind for their liabilities, including by way of pledges on or fiduciary transfers of the company's assets or guarantees of any kind, whether against payment or not.