Ordinance
on the Protection of Designs
(Designs Ordinance, DesO)

¹ The Swiss Fed­er­al In­sti­tute of In­tel­lec­tu­al Prop­erty (IPI)⁴ is re­spons­ible for car­ry­ing out the ad­min­is­trat­ive du­ties stip­u­lated in the De­sA⁵ and this Or­din­ance.

² The Fed­er­al Cus­toms Ad­min­is­tra­tion is re­spons­ible for en­for­cing Art­icles 46–49 De­sA and Art­icles 37–40 of this Or­din­ance.

If a time lim­it is cal­cu­lated in months or years, it shall end in the fi­nal month on the same date of the month as the date on which it star­ted. If there is no such date, the time lim­it shall end on the fi­nal day of the fi­nal month.

¹ Sub­mis­sions to the IPI must be writ­ten in an of­fi­cial Swiss lan­guage.

^1bis The of­fi­cial lan­guage chosen by the ap­plic­ant at the time of fil­ing is the lan­guage of the pro­ced­ure.⁶

² Where of­fi­cial doc­u­ments of evid­ence are not writ­ten in an of­fi­cial lan­guage, the IPI may re­quest a trans­la­tion and a cer­ti­fic­ate con­firm­ing its ac­cur­acy. If the trans­la­tion or cer­ti­fic­ate is not sub­mit­ted des­pite be­ing re­ques­ted, the doc­u­ment of evid­ence will not be taken in­to ac­count.

¹ Where sev­er­al per­sons ap­ply to re­gister a design or hold the right to a design (right hold­er), they must either des­ig­nate one of them to whom the IPI may send all com­mu­nic­a­tions with ef­fect for all of them, or they must ap­point a joint rep­res­ent­at­ive.

² If neither of these con­di­tions have been met, the IPI shall des­ig­nate a re­cip­i­ent in ac­cord­ance with para­graph 1. If one of the oth­er per­sons ob­jects, the IPI shall re­quest that all parties act in ac­cord­ance with para­graph 1.

¹ If an ap­plic­ant or right hold­er is rep­res­en­ted be­fore the IPI, the IPI may re­quest a writ­ten power of at­tor­ney.

² Any per­son who has been au­thor­ised by the ap­plic­ant or right hold­er to sub­mit all de­clar­a­tions provided for in the De­sA or in this Or­din­ance to the IPI and to re­ceive com­mu­nic­a­tions from the IPI on their be­half shall be entered in the Re­gister as a rep­res­ent­at­ive in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 25. If the IPI is not ex­pli­citly no­ti­fied of any re­stric­tion to the power of at­tor­ney, it is deemed com­pre­hens­ive.

¹ Sub­mis­sions must be signed.

² If a val­id sig­na­ture is miss­ing from a sub­mis­sion, the ori­gin­al date on which it was sub­mit­ted shall be re­cog­nised provided that a signed sub­mis­sion identic­al in con­tent is sub­sequently sub­mit­ted with­in one month of a re­quest from the IPI.

³ The ap­plic­a­tion for re­gis­tra­tion does not have to be signed. The IPI may des­ig­nate oth­er doc­u­ments that do not re­quire a sig­na­ture.

¹ The IPI may re­quest proof where it has reas­on­able doubt con­cern­ing the ac­cur­acy of a sub­mis­sion.

² The IPI shall dis­close the reas­ons for its doubt, provide an op­por­tun­ity to re­spond, and set a time lim­it for the sub­mis­sion of proof.

¹ The IPI may au­thor­ise elec­tron­ic com­mu­nic­a­tion.

² It shall de­term­ine the tech­nic­al de­tails and pub­lish them in an ap­pro­pri­ate man­ner.

¹ The of­fi­cial form or a form ap­proved by the IPI must be used for fil­ing the ap­plic­a­tion for re­gis­tra­tion.

² If an ap­plic­a­tion is filed that is oth­er­wise form­ally val­id and con­tains all the in­form­a­tion re­quired, the IPI may waive the re­quire­ment to sub­mit the form.

¹ The ap­plic­a­tion for re­gis­tra­tion shall in­clude:

a.

the ap­plic­a­tion to re­gister the design;

b.

the sur­name and first name or the com­pany name and the ad­dress of the ap­plic­ant;

c.

the num­ber of designs in­cluded in the fil­ing;

d.

a ref­er­ence num­ber for each filed design;

e.

at least one rep­res­ent­a­tion of each filed design;

f.

in­form­a­tion about the products for which the designs are to be used;

g.¹²

the sur­name, first name and dom­i­cile of the per­sons who cre­ated the design.

² The ap­plic­a­tion for re­gis­tra­tion must be sup­ple­men­ted, where ap­plic­able, with the fol­low­ing:

a.¹³

the ad­dress for ser­vice of the ap­plic­ant in Switzer­land;

a^bis.¹⁴

in the case of two or more ap­plic­ants, the des­ig­na­tion of the re­cip­i­ent in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 4 para­graph 1 and their ad­dress for ser­vice where ap­plic­able;

a^ter.¹⁵

the name and ad­dress of the rep­res­ent­at­ive, where ap­plic­able, and their ad­dress for ser­vice in Switzer­land;

b.

the de­clar­a­tion of pri­or­ity in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 23 of the De­sA;

c.

the ap­plic­a­tion for de­fer­ment of pub­lic­a­tion in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 26 para­graph 1 of the De­sA;

d.

a de­scrip­tion of the design in up to 100 words in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 19 para­graph 4 of the De­sA; the text must be ma­chine-read­able.

³ If a de­fer­ment of pub­lic­a­tion is re­ques­ted for a two-di­men­sion­al design in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 26 of the De­sA, a spe­ci­men of the design may be sub­mit­ted in lieu of a rep­res­ent­a­tion (Art. 19 para. 3 De­sA).

⁴ The rep­res­ent­a­tions shall be re­leased for pub­lic­a­tion five work­ing days after re­ceipt of the ap­plic­a­tion for re­gis­tra­tion provided that the IPI has not re­ceived an ap­plic­a­tion for de­fer­ment of pub­lic­a­tion by that date.

¹ The rep­res­ent­a­tions of the design must be suit­able for re­pro­duc­tion.

² A mul­tiple ap­plic­a­tion must not weigh more than 5 kg and may not ex­ceed di­men­sions of 30cm in any dir­ec­tion, ir­re­spect­ive of the num­ber of designs filed with­in the ap­plic­a­tion.

¹ The de­clar­a­tion of pri­or­ity with­in the mean­ing of the Par­is Con­ven­tion of 20 March 1883¹⁶ for the Pro­tec­tion of In­dus­tri­al Prop­erty shall in­clude the fol­low­ing in­form­a­tion:

a.

the date of the first fil­ing;

b.

the coun­try in which the first fil­ing was made;

c.

the coun­tries for which the first fil­ing was made.

² The de­clar­a­tion of pri­or­ity may re­late to mul­tiple first fil­ings.

³ The pri­or­ity doc­u­ment con­sists of a cer­ti­fic­ate of the first fil­ing from the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity in­dic­at­ing the fil­ing or re­gis­tra­tion num­ber of the design. It may be sub­mit­ted in Eng­lish.

The right to pri­or­ity shall lapse where:

a.

the de­clar­a­tion of pri­or­ity is not made at the time of fil­ing the design;

b.

the pri­or­ity doc­u­ment is not sub­mit­ted with­in the time lim­it set by the IPI.

The IPI will pre­pare a pri­or­ity doc­u­ment for a Swiss first fil­ing on re­quest.

For postal items, the sub­mis­sion date is the date on which the item is de­livered by Swiss Post to the IPI.

¹ If the ap­plic­a­tion for re­gis­tra­tion does not ful­fil the form­al re­quire­ments of Art­icle 19 para­graph 1 and Art­icle 20 of the De­sA, as well as Art­icle 9 and 10 of this Or­din­ance, the IPI shall set a time lim­it for the ap­plic­ant to com­plete or cor­rect the ap­plic­a­tion.

² If the ap­plic­ant does not rem­edy the de­fi­ciency with­in the time lim­it, the IPI shall dis­miss the ap­plic­a­tion for re­gis­tra­tion in its en­tirety or in part.

¹ If there are grounds for re­fus­al as defined in Art­icle 4 let­ters a, d or e of the De­sA, the IPI shall set a time lim­it for the ap­plic­ant to rem­edy the de­fi­ciency.

² If the ap­plic­ant does not rem­edy the de­fi­ciency with­in the time lim­it, the IPI shall re­fuse the ap­plic­a­tion for re­gis­tra­tion in its en­tirety or in part. The IPI may set fur­ther time lim­its in ex­cep­tion­al cases.¹⁹

¹ The re­gis­tra­tion fee must be paid with­in the time lim­it set by the IPI (Art. 19 para. 2 De­sA).

² The re­gis­tra­tion fee con­sists of:

a.

the ba­sic fee;

b.

the pub­lic­a­tion fee, where ap­plic­able;

c. and d.²⁰ ...

³ ...²¹

⁴ If the re­gis­tra­tion is to be pub­lished after ex­piry of the de­fer­ment peri­od, the pub­lic­a­tion fee must be paid pri­or to pub­lic­a­tion.²²

¹ If there are no grounds for dis­missal or re­fus­al and no de­fer­ment of pub­lic­a­tion has been re­ques­ted, the IPI shall enter the design in the Re­gister and pub­lish the re­gis­tra­tion.

² It will provide the right hold­er with con­firm­a­tion of the re­gis­tra­tion.

¹ The IPI may re­mind the right hold­er entered in the Re­gister, or their rep­res­ent­at­ive, to pay the pub­lic­a­tion fee pri­or to the ex­piry of the de­fer­ment peri­od.²⁴

² If the pub­lic­a­tion of a two-di­men­sion­al design has been de­ferred in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 26 of the De­sA, and a spe­ci­men of the design has been sub­mit­ted in lieu of a rep­res­ent­a­tion, the IPI may is­sue a re­mind­er to the right hold­er entered in the Re­gister, or to their rep­res­ent­at­ive, to sub­mit at least one rep­res­ent­a­tion of the design.²⁵

³ In the case of mul­tiple ap­plic­a­tions (Art. 20 De­sA), pro­tec­tion may, on re­quest, be re­newed for in­di­vidu­al designs after ex­piry of the de­fer­ment peri­od.

⁴ If the pub­lic­a­tion fee is not paid by the last day of the de­fer­ment peri­od, or if the re­quired rep­res­ent­a­tions are not sub­mit­ted two months at the latest pri­or to ex­piry of the de­fer­ment peri­od, the IPI shall can­cel the re­gis­tra­tion.

The IPI may re­mind the right hold­er entered in the Re­gister, or their rep­res­ent­at­ive, about the date of ex­piry and the pos­sib­il­ity of re­new­al be­fore the ex­piry of the peri­od of pro­tec­tion. The IPI may also send such no­ti­fic­a­tions abroad.

¹ The ap­plic­a­tion for re­new­al must be sub­mit­ted to the IPI with­in the last twelve months pre­ced­ing the ex­piry of the peri­od of pro­tec­tion, but no later than six months after its ex­piry.

² In the case of mul­tiple ap­plic­a­tions (Art. 20 De­sA), re­new­al of pro­tec­tion may be lim­ited to in­di­vidu­al designs. In this case, those designs for which re­new­al is re­ques­ted must be clearly spe­cified.

³ The re­new­al fee must be paid with­in the time lim­its un­der para­graph 1. If the fee is paid after the ex­piry of the peri­od of pro­tec­tion, a sur­charge must be paid.²⁷

⁴ The re­new­al takes ef­fect on ex­piry of the pre­vi­ous peri­od of pro­tec­tion.

⁵ The IPI shall provide the right hold­er with con­firm­a­tion of the re­new­al of pro­tec­tion.²⁸

If an ap­plic­a­tion for re­new­al has been sub­mit­ted and it does not res­ult in the re­new­al of the term of pro­tec­tion, the re­new­al fee shall be re­im­bursed.

¹ The IPI shall main­tain a dossier in which the stages of the re­gis­tra­tion pro­ced­ure and all entries in the Re­gister are re­cor­ded.

² Of­fi­cial doc­u­ments of evid­ence that dis­close man­u­fac­tur­ing or trade secrets or con­tain oth­er in­form­a­tion that the ap­plic­ant has a le­git­im­ate in­terest in keep­ing con­fid­en­tial shall be filed sep­ar­ately on re­quest. This will be noted in the dossier.³⁰

³ ...³¹

¹ Pri­or to the entry of the design in the Re­gister and dur­ing the peri­od of de­fer­ment of pub­lic­a­tion, the dossier may be in­spec­ted by:

a.

the ap­plic­ant and his or her rep­res­ent­at­ive;

b.

per­sons who prove that the ap­plic­ant al­leges that they have in­fringed the ap­plic­ant’s right to the filed design or has warned them of such an in­fringe­ment;

c.

oth­er per­sons with the ex­press con­sent of the ap­plic­ant or his or her rep­res­ent­at­ive.

² The per­sons named in para­graph 1 may also in­spect the files re­lat­ing to ap­plic­a­tions for re­gis­tra­tion that have been with­drawn or re­jec­ted, or which the IPI has dis­missed.

³ Any­one may in­spect the dossier after the design has been entered in the Re­gister, provided that the pub­lic­a­tion has not been de­ferred.

⁴ The IPI shall make a de­cision re­gard­ing the in­spec­tion of sep­ar­ately filed of­fi­cial doc­u­ments of evid­ence in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 22 para­graph 2 fol­low­ing con­sulta­tion with the right hold­er.

⁵ On re­quest, the files to be in­spec­ted shall be is­sued in the form of cop­ies.³²

¹ The IPI shall re­tain the ori­gin­als or cop­ies of the files of com­pletely can­celled re­gister entries for five years fol­low­ing the can­cel­la­tion.

² The IPI shall re­tain the ori­gin­als or cop­ies of the files of ap­plic­a­tions for re­gis­tra­tion that have been with­drawn or re­jec­ted, or which have been dis­missed by the IPI, for five years fol­low­ing the with­draw­al, re­jec­tion or dis­missal.

³ ...³³

⁴ On re­quest, the IPI shall re­turn sub­mit­ted design spe­ci­mens to the right hold­er after ex­piry of the re­ten­tion peri­od. The re­quest must be made pri­or to the ex­piry of the re­ten­tion peri­od.³⁴

¹ The entry of a design in the Re­gister shall in­clude:

a.

the fil­ing num­ber;

b.

the fil­ing date;

c.

the sur­name and first name or the com­pany name as well as the ad­dress of the right hold­er;

d.

the sur­name and ad­dress of the rep­res­ent­at­ive, where ap­plic­able;

e.³⁵

the sur­name and dom­i­cile of the per­sons who cre­ated the design;

f.

in­form­a­tion about the products for which the designs are to be used;

g.

a ref­er­ence num­ber for each filed design;

h.

the re­pro­duc­tions of the designs;

i.

the date of re­gis­tra­tion;

j

the date of pub­lic­a­tion.

² Where ap­plic­able, the entry shall also in­clude the fol­low­ing:

a.

in­form­a­tion con­cern­ing the pri­or­ity claim in ac­cord­ance with Art­icles 22 and 23 De­sA;

b.

an in­dic­a­tion that the pub­lic­a­tion has been de­ferred;

c.

a de­scrip­tion of the design.

³ The fol­low­ing shall also be entered in the Re­gister:

a.

the re­new­al of the term of pro­tec­tion and the date on which the re­new­al comes in­to ef­fect;

b.

the com­plete or par­tial can­cel­la­tion of the re­gis­tra­tion with the reas­on for the can­cel­la­tion;

c.

the com­plete or par­tial trans­fer of the design right;

d.³⁶

the grant of a li­cence or sub-li­cence with the sur­name and first name or com­pany name as well as the ad­dress of the per­son to whom the li­cense is gran­ted (li­censee), and an in­dic­a­tion as to wheth­er it con­cerns an ex­clus­ive li­cence or a par­tial li­cence;

e.

the usu­fruct of the design right and pledging of the design right;

f.

re­stric­tions on powers of dis­pos­al ordered by the courts and com­puls­ory en­force­ment au­thor­it­ies;

g.

amend­ments con­cern­ing re­gistered in­form­a­tion.

⁴ The IPI may enter oth­er in­form­a­tion of pub­lic in­terest.

⁵ ...³⁷

¹ The entries in the Re­gister, with the ex­cep­tion of entries whose pub­lic­a­tion has been de­ferred, are open for any­one to in­spect.

² The IPI shall is­sue ex­tracts from the Re­gister.³⁸

³ ...³⁹

¹ The re­quest for re­gis­tra­tion of the trans­fer must be made by the former right hold­er or the per­son who is ac­quir­ing the design right (ac­quirer).

² It shall in­clude:

a.

an ex­press de­clar­a­tion by the former right hold­er or an­oth­er sat­is­fact­ory doc­u­ment show­ing that the design right is en­tirely or par­tially trans­ferred to the ac­quirer;

b.⁴⁰

the sur­name and first name or com­pany name, the ad­dress of the per­son ac­quir­ing the design right and, where ap­plic­able, their ad­dress for ser­vice in Switzer­land;

¹ The re­quest for re­gis­tra­tion of a li­cence must be made by the right hold­er or by the li­censee.

² It shall in­clude:

a.

an ex­press de­clar­a­tion by the right hold­er or an­oth­er sat­is­fact­ory doc­u­ment show­ing that the right hold­er au­thor­ises the li­censee to use the design;

b.

the sur­name and first name or the com­pany name as well as the ad­dress of the li­censee;

c.

the re­quest that the li­cence be re­gistered as an ex­clus­ive li­cence where ap­plic­able;

d.

in the case of a par­tial li­cence, an in­dic­a­tion of the li­censed rights where ap­plic­able.

³ For the re­gis­tra­tion of a sub-li­cence, para­graphs 1 and 2 ap­ply by ana­logy. In ad­di­tion, it must be proven that the li­censee is au­thor­ised to grant sub-li­cences.

⁴ If an ex­clus­ive li­cence is entered in the Re­gister, no oth­er li­censes that are in­com­pat­ible with the ex­clus­ive li­cense will be entered in the Re­gister for the same design.⁴¹

On the basis of an ap­pro­pri­ate de­clar­a­tion by the right hold­er or an­oth­er sat­is­fact­ory doc­u­ment, the IPI shall re­gister:

a.

the usu­fruct of the design right and pledging of the design right;

b.⁴²

re­stric­tions on powers of dis­pos­al ordered by the courts and com­puls­ory en­force­ment au­thor­it­ies;

g.

amend­ments con­cern­ing re­gistered in­form­a­tion.

On re­quest, the IPI shall can­cel a right re­gistered in fa­vour of a third party if an ex­press waiver or oth­er sat­is­fact­ory doc­u­ment is presen­ted by the hold­er of this right.

¹ In­cor­rect re­gister entries shall be rec­ti­fied without delay at the re­quest of the right hold­er.⁴³

² If the er­ror res­ults from an over­sight by the IPI, it shall be rec­ti­fied ex of­fi­cio.

¹ ...⁴⁴

²⁻³ ...⁴⁵

¹ The IPI shall can­cel a design on its own ini­ti­at­ive if, in the event of the de­fer­ment of pub­lic­a­tion, no rep­res­ent­a­tions are sub­mit­ted (Art. 19 para. 3 De­sA).

² The IPI shall no­ti­fy the right hold­er of the can­cel­la­tion.

³ The can­cel­la­tion of a design is free of charge.

Un­less de­fer­ment of pub­lic­a­tion has been re­ques­ted, the IPI shall pub­lish:

a.

the re­gis­tra­tion of the design in­clud­ing the in­form­a­tion un­der Art­icle 25 para­graphs 1 let­ters a–h and 2;

b.

the in­form­a­tion un­der Art­icle 25 para­graph 3 and 4 where its pub­lic­a­tion ap­pears ap­pro­pri­ate.

¹ The IPI shall de­term­ine the or­gan of pub­lic­a­tion.

² On re­quest and sub­ject to a fee, it shall make pa­per cop­ies of data that has only been pub­lished elec­tron­ic­ally.

The as­sist­ance provided by the Fed­er­al Cus­toms Ad­min­is­tra­tion shall ex­tend to the move­ment of un­law­fully man­u­fac­tured items in­to or out of the cus­toms ter­rit­ory.

¹ The right hold­er or the li­censee en­titled to ini­ti­ate pro­ceed­ings (ap­plic­ant) must sub­mit the ap­plic­a­tion for as­sist­ance to the Dir­ect­or­ate Gen­er­al of Cus­toms.

^1bis The Dir­ect­or­ate Gen­er­al of Cus­toms shall make a de­cision on the ap­plic­a­tion no later than 40 days after re­ceipt of the com­plete doc­u­ment­a­tion.⁵¹

²The ap­plic­a­tion is val­id for a peri­od of two years un­less a short­er peri­od of valid­ity is re­ques­ted. It may be re­newed.

¹If the cus­toms of­fice with­holds items, it shall re­tain the items for a fee or shall place them in the cus­tody of a third party at the cost of the ap­plic­ant.⁵²

²It shall provide the ap­plic­ant with the name and ad­dress of the de­clar­ant, hold­er or own­er, a pre­cise de­scrip­tion and the quant­ity, as well as the sender of the with­held items in Switzer­land or abroad.⁵³

³If it is es­tab­lished pri­or to the ex­piry of the time lim­it un­der Art­icle 48 para­graph 2 or 3 De­sA that the ap­plic­ant is un­able to ob­tain pre­lim­in­ary meas­ures, the items shall be re­leased im­me­di­ately.

¹ The ap­plic­ant may re­quest that the samples are handed over or de­livered to them for ex­am­in­a­tion or that the items are in­spec­ted. In­stead of samples, the Cus­toms Ad­min­is­tra­tion may provide the ap­plic­ant with pho­to­graphs of the with­held items if this en­ables the ap­plic­ant to as­sess the items.

² The re­quest may be sub­mit­ted to­geth­er with the ap­plic­a­tion for as­sist­ance to the Dir­ect­or­ate Gen­er­al of Cus­toms or, while the items are be­ing with­held, dir­ectly to the cus­toms of­fice that is with­hold­ing the items.

¹ The Cus­toms Ad­min­is­tra­tion shall in­form the de­clar­ant, hold­er or own­er of the items of the pos­sib­il­ity of re­fus­ing to take samples on present­a­tion of a reasoned re­quest. The Ad­min­is­tra­tion shall set a suit­able time lim­it for him or her to sub­mit the re­quest.

² If the Cus­toms Ad­min­is­tra­tion per­mits the ap­plic­ant to in­spect the with­held items, it shall take ap­pro­pri­ate con­sid­er­a­tion of the in­terests of the ap­plic­ant and the de­clar­ant, hold­er or own­er when de­term­in­ing the date of in­spec­tion.

¹ The Cus­toms Ad­min­is­tra­tion shall keep the samples col­lec­ted for a peri­od of one year start­ing from the date of no­ti­fic­a­tion of the de­clar­ant, hold­er or own­er in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 48 para­graph 1 De­sA. After this time lim­it ex­pires, the Cus­toms Ad­min­is­tra­tion shall re­quest the de­clar­ant, hold­er or own­er to take pos­ses­sion of the samples or bear the costs of their con­tin­ued safe­keep­ing. If the de­clar­ant, hold­er or own­er is not will­ing to do so or does not re­spond to this re­quest with­in 30 days, the Cus­toms Ad­min­is­tra­tion shall des­troy the samples.

² In­stead of col­lect­ing samples, the Cus­toms Ad­min­is­tra­tion may take pho­to­graphs of the des­troyed items, provided this serves the pur­pose of pre­serving evid­ence.

The fees for as­sist­ance provided by the Cus­toms Ad­min­is­tra­tion are gov­erned by the Or­din­ance of 4 April 2007⁵⁸ on Fed­er­al Cus­toms Ad­min­is­tra­tion Charges.

The Or­din­ance of 27 Ju­ly 1900⁵⁹ on In­dus­tri­al Designs and Mod­els is re­pealed.

The amend­ment of the cur­rent law is reg­u­lated in the An­nex.

Time lim­its set by the IPI that are run­ning on the day this Or­din­ance comes in­to force shall re­main un­changed.

This Or­din­ance comes in­to force on 1 Ju­ly 2002.