- European
2. Trademark affairs are managed by the Swiss Federal Intellectual Property Office (IPI), and the official languages are German, French, and Italian.
3. In Switzerland, trademark applications follow the principle of priority application, obtaining exclusive rights through registration. However, for well-known trademarks, trademark rights can also be claimed through prior use.
4. Swiss trademark categories include general trademarks, collective trademarks, certification trademarks, and geographical trademarks.
5. The requirement of the Trademark Office for a name is that it must be unique and cannot be similar to a registered trademark. Meanwhile, some names may be prohibited from use due to religious or cultural reasons.
6. Article 11 of the Swiss Law on the Protection of Trademarks and Geographical Indications also provides specific provisions on the common use of trademarks:
① When declaring or maintaining the right to use a registered trademark, the trademark should have a genuine trial on the registered goods/services, except in cases of force majeure;
② The use authorized by the registered trademark owner to others shall be deemed as actual use;
③ If the actual use of the trademark is inconsistent with the registered trademark and the significant features of the registered trademark are not changed, it shall be deemed as the actual use of the registered trademark.
As Switzerland is not a member state of the European Union, the EU trademark application will not cover Switzerland. But Switzerland is a member of the Madrid Agreement and Madrid Protocol, and currently there are two ways to apply for Swiss trademarks:
One is designated through the Madrid system.
The second is to file a trademark application through a single country, namely through the Swiss Federal Intellectual Property Office (IPI).
The Swiss trademark is valid for 10 years after registration, starting from the date of application; Renewal can be processed within 6 months before the expiration date, with a grace period of 6 months; The renewal is valid for 10 years.
1. Name and address of the applicant;
2. A copy of the applicant's business license (applied by a legal person) or a copy of their personal identification (applied by a natural person);
3. Trademark design;
4. List of categories to which the goods or services belong;
5. Priority proof documents (if any).
Trademark applicant submits application to Swiss Intellectual Property Office (IPI)
After the applicant submits the application, the examiner will examine the application and the applicant may request an extension of the examination period or an acceleration of the examination process. The examination is based on absolute reasons, including the examination of the distinctiveness of the trademark and whether it violates the prohibition and prohibition clauses. Swiss trademark registration does not examine whether there are similar trademarks registered earlier.
If the applicant has objections to the refusal notice from the Trademark Office, they may appeal the refusal to register to the Federal Administrative Court within 30 days of receiving the notice, and the appeal to the Federal Administrative Court may be filed with the Supreme Court.
When registering a trademark in Switzerland, there is no examination of "relative reasons", which means that the official will not actively review whether the applied trademark is similar to the prior trademark and reject it. Therefore, the trademark is easy to pass the initial review and be announced. This requires the rights holder to continue to pay attention, monitor, and timely raise objections to protect their trademark rights after the successful application registration.
In 1998, Switzerland added an accelerated examination procedure for trademarks, which allowed applicants to register or issue a rejection within one month after paying fees, and the remaining procedural steps would be completed within two months.
The Swiss Federal Office for Intellectual Property may also extend the trademark examination at the request of the applicant, up to a maximum of 6 months.
If the trademark passes the examination, it will be registered in the Swiss Trademark Registry.
After approval of registration, IPI will publish the trademark online on its official website, and the date of publication is the date of protection. The announcement period is 3 months, during which anyone can raise objections to the trademark.
In addition, when registering a trademark in Switzerland, a registration certificate will be issued first and then announced. If the trademark is objected to during the announcement period, even if the registration certificate has been obtained, it cannot take effect- 4 months)
