The Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI) buys nuts for its staff. The reason: to promote a fit mind. Anyone working at the IPI needs a sharp mind – employees there regularly have tough nuts to crack. For example: The IPI oversees patents, trademarks and designs in Switzerland. It fights product piracy, counterfeiting and misuse of the “Swiss Made” designation. Once known simply as the patent office, it is now a federal institute. From legal fodder to brain food Plenty of legal “fodder” is handled at the IPI. The institute’s leaders may have recalled that Albert Einstein once worked there – the physicist and Nobel laureate was a technical expert at the former patent office from 1902 to 1909. Their modern-day solution for keeping minds sharp? Trail mix. Earlier this month, the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) published a report revealing that the IPI had a “limit order for nuts” worth CHF52,500 ($56,800) over eight years. Upon review, auditors confirmed the …