Trade Mark Protection: Registration of a Trade Mark in the Swiss Register
Trade marks are an important distinguishing feature for companies. The creation of a successful trade mark is not only time-consuming but also costly. To protect against imitations, trade marks can be registered in the Swiss trademark register.
Whether it’s Apple, Coca-Cola or Microsoft, some trade marks are world-famous. But what exactly is a trade mark?
Trade marks – a protected distinctive sign
In Switzerland, the Federal Law on the Protection of Trade Marks and Indications of Source (Trademark Law) and the related ordinance (MSchV) define the concept of a trade mark. In the legal sense, a trade mark is a protected sign which allows a company to differentiate itself. It has the function of distinguishing a business’ products or services. In principle, all signs that can be represented graphically can be trade marks. In addition to words, letters and numbers, figurative representations, three-dimensional shapes or combinations of such elements can also be considered trade marks.
Trademarks protect reputation and finances
For a company, a trade mark is a decisive element of differentiation. To develop and maintain a trade mark, a company must invest not only time but also financial resources. Indeed, successful brands regularly face imitators. In addition to affecting the company’s income, imitations often threaten its reputation. In order to protect themselves against free-riders and to facilitate legal proceedings against them, companies can register their trade marks in the Swiss trade mark register.
Conditions for registering a trade mark
In Switzerland, the Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI) is responsible for the registration of trade marks. For a sign to be protected as a trade mark, the following conditions must be met:
- The sign must not be identical to an existing trade mark. In Switzerland, the applicant has to check himself whether the registration infringes on earlier protective rights;
- A trade mark must not be descriptive, i.e., it must not contain indications as to the nature, quality, method or place of manufacture, purpose or price of the product or service concerned;
- A trademark must not be misleading or deceptive as to the characteristics of the product or service;
- Finally, the trade mark must not be contrary to the law in force, public policy or accepted principles of morality.
Content of the application
In order to register a trade mark in the Swiss Register, it is necessary to file a written or electronic application. The application must contain, among other things, the type of trade mark, the classification of the trade mark, the type of product and the type of service associated with the trade mark.
Trade mark type
The type of trade mark defines the concrete type of graphic sign to be protected. A distinction is made between :
- Word marks are all marks consisting exclusively of printable signs such as letters or numbers, e.g. Breitling ;
- Figurative marks are made up of purely figurative elements. An example would be Mammut ;
- Word/figurative marks consist of both verbal and figurative elements. These are often graphic inscriptions, e.g. Ricola.
Classification
Trademarks are not protected in the abstract, but only in relation to specific goods or services. When filing, it must therefore be determined to which goods and services a trade mark relates, based on the international classification of goods and services established by the Nice Classification. In total, there are 45 classes (34 goods and 11 services).
Trade mark category
Finally, the category of trademark to be registered must also be determined:
- An individual mark refers to a single company or its goods and services. Most trademarks belong to this type (e.g. Swisscom);
- A collective mark protects the goods and services of a whole group of manufacturing, trading and service companies (example: Fleurop);
- Finally, a guarantee mark guarantees certain characteristics of products and services (e.g. IP Switzerland).
Fees for the registration of a trade mark
The fees for the registration of a trademark are governed by the provisions of the IPI’s Fee Regulations. A filing fee of CHF 550 is payable for the registration itself. If a trade mark refers to more than four Nice classes, a surcharge of CHF 100 per class as of the 4th class must also be paid. The protection of the trademark is in principle valid for ten years. The term of protection can be extended at will from ten years to ten years for CHF 700. The cancellation of a trade mark costs CHF 800.
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