The company's purpose is to commission research and development from third parties, acquire, hold, manage and exploit intellectual property rights of all kinds, such as patents, know-how and trademark rights, as well as grant licenses. The company may establish branches and subsidiaries in Switzerland and abroad, participate in other companies, take over representations and engage in any business activity and conclude contracts of any kind that may promote the company's purpose or are directly or indirectly related to it. The company may acquire, hold, manage, encumber and sell real estate in Switzerland and abroad, except for transactions prohibited by the Federal Act on the Acquisition of Real Estate by Persons Abroad (BewG). In pursuing its purpose, the company may take into account the interests of its shareholders. In particular, the company may grant loans and other direct or indirect financing to its direct and indirect subsidiaries and third parties, including its direct and indirect shareholders and their direct and indirect subsidiaries, including within the framework of cash pooling agreements (including zero balancing), and provide security of all kinds for the obligations of these parties, including by way of pledges on or fiduciary transfers of the company's assets or guarantees of any kind. This also applies without consideration, on preferential terms, without interest, to the exclusion of the company's profit motive and/or assuming cluster risks.