In accordance with Art. 21 of the Federal Act on the Federal Institutes of Technology of October 4, 1991 (SR 414.110) and Art. 1 lit. c) and Art. 4 of the Verordnung des ETH-Rates über die Forschungsanstalten des ETH-Bereichs (in German only) of November 13, 2003 (SR 414.161, in German only), the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) is a federal, autonomous, public-sector facility with its own legal identity and defined field of responsibility. Consequently, there is no entry in the Commercial Register.