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Ordinance
on the Protection of Trade Marks and
Indications of Source1
(TmPO)

of 23 December 1992 (Status as of 1 January 2022)

1 Amended by No I of the O of 2 Sept. 2015, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2015 3649).

The Swiss Federal Council,

on the basis of Articles 35c, 38 paragraph 2, 39 paragraph 3, 50 paragraphs 1 and 2, 50d paragraph 2 and 50e paragraph 7 of the Trade Mark Protection Act of
28 August 19922 (TmPA)
and on Article 13 of the Federal Act of 24 March 19953 on the Status and Tasks of the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property,4

ordains:

2 SR 232.11

3 SR 172.010.31

4 Amended by No I of the O of 18 Aug. 2021, in force since 1 Dec. 2021 (AS 2021 510).

Chapter 1 General Provisions

Art. 1 Responsibility  

1The Swiss Fed­er­al In­sti­tute of In­tel­lec­tu­al Prop­erty (IPI) is re­spons­ible for car­ry­ing out the ad­min­is­trat­ive du­ties stip­u­lated in the TmPA and for im­ple­ment­ing this Or­din­ance5.6

2 Ex­cluded from this are Art­icles 70–72 TmPA and Art­icles 54–57 of this Or­din­ance. The Fed­er­al Of­fice for Cus­toms and Bor­der Se­cur­ity (FO­CBS)7 is re­spons­ible for their im­ple­ment­a­tion.

5 The name of this ad­min­is­trat­ive unit was amended in ap­plic­a­tion of Art. 16 para. 3 of the Pub­lic­a­tions Or­din­ance of 17 Nov. 2004 (AS2004 4937). This amend­ment has been made throughout the text.

6 Amended by No I of the O of 25 Oct. 1995, in force since 1 Jan. 1996 (AS 1995 5158).

7 The name of this ad­min­is­trat­ive unit was amended in ap­plic­a­tion of Art. 20 para. 2 of the Pub­lic­a­tions Or­din­ance of 7 Oct. 2015 (SR 170.512.1) on 1 Jan. 2022 (AS 2021 589). This amend­ment has been made throughout the text.

Art. 2 Calculation of time limits 8  

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 ends on the fi­nal day of the fi­nal month.

8 Amended by No I of the O of 8 March 2002, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2002 (AS 2002 1119).

Art. 3 Language  

1 Sub­mis­sions to the IPI must be writ­ten in an of­fi­cial lan­guage of the Con­fed­er­a­tion. The fore­go­ing is without pre­ju­dice to Art­icles 47 para­graph 3 and 52p para­graph 3.9

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; the fore­go­ing is without pre­ju­dice to Art­icle 14 para­graph 3. If the trans­la­tion or cer­ti­fic­ate is not sub­mit­ted des­pite be­ing re­ques­ted, the doc­u­ment of evid­ence will not be taken in­to ac­count.

9 Amended by No I of the O of 18 Aug. 2021, in force since 1 Dec. 2021 (AS 2021 510).

Art. 4 Several applicants or proprietors of a trade mark 10  

1 Where sev­er­al per­sons ap­ply to re­gister a trade mark or hold the right to a trade mark, 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.

3 Para­graphs 1 and 2 also ap­ply to ap­plic­a­tions for in­ter­na­tion­al re­gis­tra­tion in ac­cord­ance with Art­icles 50d und 50e TmPA.11

10 Amended by No I of the O of 2 Dec. 2016, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2016 4829).

11 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 18 Aug. 2021, in force since 1 Dec. 2021 (AS 2021 510).

Art. 4a Substitution of a party 12  

If the con­tested in­tel­lec­tu­al prop­erty right is trans­ferred dur­ing the course of pending pro­ceed­ings, Art­icle 83 of the Civil Pro­ced­ure Code13 ap­plies by ana­logy.

12 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 18 Aug. 2021, in force since 1 Dec. 2021 (AS 2021 510).

13 SR 272

Art. 5 Power of attorney 14  

1 If an ap­plic­ant or pro­pri­et­or 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 pro­pri­et­or to sub­mit de­clar­a­tions provided for in the TmPA 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 40. If the IPI is not ex­pli­citly no­ti­fied of any re­stric­tion to the power of at­tor­ney, it is deemed com­pre­hens­ive.

14 Amended by No I of the O of 2 Dec. 2016, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2016 4829).

Art. 6 Signature 15  

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.

15 Amended by No I of the O of 8 March 2002, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2002 (AS 2002 1119).

Art. 6a Proof 16  

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.

16 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 2 Dec. 2016, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2016 4829).

Art. 7 Fees 17  

For fees which must be paid in ac­cord­ance with the TmPA or this Or­din­ance, the IPI Fee Or­din­ance of 14 June 201618 ap­plies.

17 Amended by No I of the O of 2 Dec. 2016, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2016 4829).

18 SR 232.148

Art. 7a Electronic communication 19  

1 The IPI may au­thor­ise elec­tron­ic com­mu­nic­a­tion.

2 It shall de­term­ine the tech­nic­al de­tails and pub­lish them in an ap­pro­pri­ate man­ner.20

19 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 22 Jan. 1997, in force since 1 May 1997 (AS 1997 865).

20 In­ser­ted by No II of the O of 31 March 1999, in force since 1 May 1999 (AS 1999 1443).

Chapter 2 Registration of Trade Marks

Section 1 Registration Procedure

Art. 8 Filing  

1 A form ap­proved by the IPI or a form from the Reg­u­la­tions un­der the Singa­pore Treaty on the Law of Trade­marks of 27 March 200621 must be used to file the ap­plic­a­tion.22

2 If an ap­plic­a­tion that is oth­er­wise form­ally val­id con­tains all the in­form­a­tion re­quired, the IPI may waive the re­quire­ment to sub­mit the form.23

21 SR 0.232.112.11

22 Amended by No I of the O of 18 Aug. 2021, in force since 1 Dec. 2021 (AS 2021 510).

23 Amended by No I of the O of 2 Dec. 2016, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2016 4829).

Art. 8a Conversion of an international registration into an application for registration 24  

The fil­ing date for an ap­plic­a­tion for re­gis­tra­tion un­der Art­icle 46aTmPAshall be the date of the cor­res­pond­ing in­ter­na­tion­al re­gis­tra­tion or of the ex­ten­sion of pro­tec­tion to Switzer­land.

24 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 22 Jan. 1997, in force since 1 May 1997 (AS 1997 865).

Art. 9 Application for registration  

1 The ap­plic­a­tion for re­gis­tra­tion shall in­clude:

a.
the ap­plic­a­tion to re­gister the trade mark;
b.
the sur­name and first name or the com­pany name and the ad­dress of the ap­plic­ant;
c.25
...
d.26
...

2 The fol­low­ing must be in­cluded in the ap­plic­a­tion where ap­plic­able:

a.27
the ad­dress for ser­vice of the ap­plic­ant in Switzer­land;
abis.28
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;
ater.29
the name and ad­dress of the rep­res­ent­at­ive, where ap­plic­able, and their ad­dress for ser­vice in Switzer­land;
b.
the de­clar­a­tion of pri­or­ity (Art. 12–14);
c.
an in­dic­a­tion that it con­cerns a guar­an­tee mark or a col­lect­ive mark;
cbis.30
an in­dic­a­tion that it con­cerns a geo­graph­ic­al mark;
d.31
proof of the can­cel­la­tion of the in­ter­na­tion­al re­gis­tra­tion and of the ex­ten­sion of pro­tec­tion to Switzer­land. If pri­or­ity is claimed for the can­celled in­ter­na­tion­al re­gis­tra­tion, no fur­ther pri­or­ity doc­u­ment is re­quired.

25 Re­pealed by No I of the O of 2 Dec. 2016, with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2016 4829).

26 Re­pealed by No I of the O of 8 March 2002, with ef­fect from 1 Ju­ly 2002 (AS 2002 1119).

27 Amended by No I of the O of 11 May 2011, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2011 (AS 2011 2243).

28 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 11 May 2011 (AS 2011 2243). Amended by No I of the O of 2 Dec. 2016, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2016 4829).

29 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 2 Dec. 2016, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2016 4829).

30 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 2 Sept. 2015, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2015 3649).

31 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 22 Jan. 1997, in force since 1 May 1997 (AS 1997 865).

Art. 10 Representation of the trade mark 32  

1 The trade mark must be cap­able of be­ing rep­res­en­ted graph­ic­ally. The IPI may ac­cept oth­er forms of rep­res­ent­a­tion for spe­cial types of trade mark.33

2 If a col­our is claimed for the trade mark, the cor­res­pond­ing col­our or com­bin­a­tion of col­ours must be spe­cified. The IPI may ad­di­tion­ally re­quest the sub­mis­sion of col­oured rep­res­ent­a­tions of the trade mark.

3 If it con­cerns a spe­cial type of trade mark, for ex­ample a three-di­men­sion­al sign, this must be stated in the ap­plic­a­tion for re­gis­tra­tion.

32 Amended by No I of the O of 8 Mar. 2002, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2002 (AS 2002 1119).

33 Amended by No I of the O of 3 Dec. 2004, in force since 1 Jan. 2005 (AS 2004 5019).

Art. 11 List of goods and services 34  

The goods and ser­vices for which the trade mark is claimed must be pre­cisely named and the class num­ber un­der the Nice Agree­ment of 15 June 195735 con­cern­ing the In­ter­na­tion­al Clas­si­fic­a­tion of Goods and Ser­vices (The Nice Clas­si­fic­a­tion) must be provided.

34 Amended by No I of the O of 2 Dec. 2016, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2016 4829).

35 SR 0.232.112.7, 0.232.112.8,0.232.112.9

Art. 12 Priority within the meaning of the Paris Convention  

1 The de­clar­a­tion of pri­or­ity with­in the mean­ing of the Par­is Con­ven­tion of 20 March 188336 for the Pro­tec­tion of In­dus­tri­al Prop­erty shall in­clude the fol­low­ing in­form­a­tion:

a.
the date of the first fil­ing;
b.
the coun­try in which or for which the fil­ing was made.

2 The pri­or­ity doc­u­ment con­sists of a cer­ti­fic­ate of the first fil­ing from the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity in­dic­at­ing the fil­ing or re­gis­tra­tion num­ber of the trade mark.

3 ...37

36 SR 0.232.01,0.232.02, 0.232.03,0.232.04

37 Re­pealed by No I of the O of 2 Sept. 2015, with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2015 3649).

Art. 13 Exhibition priority  

1 The de­clar­a­tion of ex­hib­i­tion pri­or­ity shall in­clude:

a.
the ex­act name of the ex­hib­i­tion;
b.
an in­dic­a­tion of the goods or ser­vices which were ex­hib­ited un­der the trade mark.

2 The pri­or­ity doc­u­ment con­sists of a cer­ti­fic­ate from the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity cer­ti­fy­ing that the goods or ser­vices bear­ing the trade mark were ex­hib­ited and in­dic­at­ing the open­ing date of the ex­hib­i­tion.

Art. 14 General provisions on the declaration of priority and priority document  

1 The de­clar­a­tion of pri­or­ity must be sub­mit­ted no later than 30 days after the fil­ing of the trade mark. If the IPI re­quests a pri­or­ity doc­u­ment, the ap­plic­ant must sub­mit it with­in six months after the fil­ing. If the ap­plic­ant does not sub­mit the re­ques­ted doc­u­ments, the claim to pri­or­ity shall lapse.38

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

3 Pri­or­ity doc­u­ments may also be sub­mit­ted in Eng­lish.

38 Amended by No I of the O of 2 Sept. 2015, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2015 3649).

Art. 14a Submission date for postal items 39  

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

39 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 18 Oct. 2006, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 4479).

Art. 15 Examination on filing  

If the fil­ing does not meet the re­quire­ments of Art­icle 28 para­graph 2 TmPA, the IPI may set a time lim­it for the ap­plic­ant to com­plete the doc­u­ment­a­tion.

Art. 16 Formal examination  

1 If the fil­ing does not ful­fil the form­al re­quire­ments laid down in the TmPA or in this Or­din­ance, the IPI shall set a time lim­it for the ap­plic­ant to rem­edy the de­fi­ciency.

2 If the de­fi­ciency is not remedied 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.

Art. 17 Substantive examination 40  

1 If there are grounds for re­fus­al as defined in Art­icle 30 para­graph 2 let­ters c–e of the TmPA, the IPI shall set a time lim­it for the ap­plic­ant to rem­edy the de­fi­ciency.

2 If an ap­plic­a­tion is sub­mit­ted for a for­eign wine de­nom­in­a­tion to be re­gistered as a geo­graph­ic­al mark, the IPI shall con­sult the Fed­er­al Of­fice for Ag­ri­cul­ture. It shall ex­am­ine wheth­er the par­tic­u­lar re­quire­ments for the for­eign wine de­nom­in­a­tion, laid down in the wine le­gis­la­tion, are ful­filled.

3 If the de­fi­ciency is not remedied 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.

40 Amended by No I of the O of 2 Sept. 2015, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2015 3649).

Art. 17a Further processing for missed time limits 41  

For the fur­ther pro­cessing of an ap­plic­a­tion which was re­fused due to fail­ure to ob­serve a time lim­it (Art. 41 TmPA), a fur­ther pro­cessing fee must be paid.

41 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 25 Oct. 1995, in force since 1 Jan. 1996 (AS 1995 5158).

Art. 18 Filing fee and class surcharge 42  

1 The ap­plic­ant must pay the fil­ing fee with­in the time lim­it set by the IPI.

2 If the list of goods or ser­vices of the filed trade mark in­cludes more than three classes, the ap­plic­ant must pay a sur­charge for each ad­di­tion­al class. The IPI shall de­term­ine the num­ber of classes sub­ject to a sur­charge in ac­cord­ance with the list of classes un­der the Nice Agree­ment.

3 The class sur­charge must be paid with­in the time lim­it set by the IPI.

42 Amended by No I of the O of 2 Dec. 2016, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2016 4829).

Art. 18a Accelerated examination 43  

1 The ap­plic­ant may re­quest an ac­cel­er­ated ex­am­in­a­tion.

2 The re­quest shall not be con­sidered to have been filed un­til the fee for an ac­cel­er­ated ex­am­in­a­tion has been paid in ad­di­tion to the fil­ing fee.44

43 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 17 Sept. 1997, in force since 1 Jan. 1998 (AS 1997 2170).

44 Amended by No I of the O of 8 March 2002, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2002 (AS 2002 1119).

Art. 19 Registration and publication  

1 If there are no grounds for re­fus­al, the IPI shall re­gister the trade mark in the Trade Mark Re­gister and pub­lish the re­gis­tra­tion.

2 It will provide the pro­pri­et­or of the trade mark with a con­firm­a­tion of the re­gis­tra­tion. The con­firm­a­tion shall in­clude the in­form­a­tion entered in the Re­gister.45

45 Amended by No I of the O of 2 Dec. 2016, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2016 4829).

Section 2 Opposition Proceedings

Art. 20 Form and content of the opposition  

The op­pos­i­tion must be sub­mit­ted in two cop­ies and must in­clude:

a.46
the sur­name and first name or the com­pany name, the ad­dress of the op­pos­ing party and, if ap­plic­able, their ad­dress for ser­vice in Switzer­land;
b.
the num­ber of the trade mark re­gis­tra­tion or the ap­plic­a­tion num­ber of the filed trade mark on which the op­pos­i­tion is based;
c.
the num­ber of the dis­puted trade mark re­gis­tra­tion as well as the name or com­pany name of the pro­pri­et­or of the trade mark;
d.
a de­clar­a­tion of the ex­tent of the op­pos­i­tion to the re­gis­tra­tion;
e.
a short state­ment of reas­ons for the op­pos­i­tion.

46 Amended by No I of the O of 11 May 2011, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2011 AS 2011 2243).

Art. 21 Address for service in Switzerland 47  

1 If an op­pos­ing party who is re­quired un­der Art­icle 42 TmPA to in­dic­ate an ad­dress for ser­vice in Switzer­land does not provide this when fil­ing the op­pos­i­tion, the IPI shall set a grace peri­od. The IPI shall also in­form the op­pos­ing party that fail­ure to com­ply be­fore ex­piry of the grace peri­od will res­ult in the dis­missal of the op­pos­i­tion.

2 A de­fend­ant who must in­dic­ate an ad­dress for ser­vice in Switzer­land must provide this with­in the time lim­it set by the IPI. The IPI shall in­form the de­fend­ant that they will be ex­cluded from the pro­ceed­ings if they fail to ful­fil this ob­lig­a­tion.

47 Amended by No I of the O of 2 Sept. 2015, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2015 3649).

Art. 22 Exchange of written submissions  

1 The IPI shall bring any op­pos­i­tion that is not mani­festly in­ad­miss­ible to the at­ten­tion of the de­fend­ant and shall set a time lim­it for re­sponse.

2 The de­fend­ant must sub­mit two cop­ies of the re­sponse.

3 In the de­fend­ant’s first re­sponse, the de­fend­ant must in­voke any non-use of the op­pos­ing party’s trade mark in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 12 para­graph 1 TmPA; however, this is only per­mit­ted if, at that time, an un­in­ter­rup­ted peri­od of five years has elapsed fol­low­ing the ex­piry of the op­pos­i­tion peri­od with no op­pos­i­tion hav­ing been filed, or upon con­clu­sion of the op­pos­i­tion pro­ceed­ings.48

4 The IPI may enter in­to fur­ther ex­changes of writ­ten sub­mis­sions.

48 Amended by No I of the O of 18 Aug. 2021, in force since 1 Dec. 2021 (AS 2021 510).

Art. 23 Multiple oppositions and suspension of proceedings 49  

1 If mul­tiple op­pos­i­tions are sub­mit­ted against the same trade mark re­gis­tra­tion, the IPI shall bring the op­pos­i­tions to the at­ten­tion of all op­pos­ing parties. It may com­bine the hand­ling of the op­pos­i­tions in one pro­ced­ure.

2 If the IPI deems it ne­ces­sary, it may first ex­am­ine one of the mul­tiple op­pos­i­tions, make a de­cision on it and sus­pend the oth­er op­pos­i­tion pro­ceed­ings.50

3 Where the op­pos­i­tion is based on the fil­ing of a trade mark ap­plic­a­tion, the IPI may sus­pend op­pos­i­tion pro­ceed­ings un­til the trade mark is re­gistered.51

4 The IPI may sus­pend op­pos­i­tion pro­ceed­ings if the de­cision on the op­pos­i­tion de­pends on the out­come of can­cel­la­tion pro­ceed­ings on the grounds of non-use, civil pro­ceed­ings or oth­er pro­ceed­ings.52

49 Amended by No I of the O of 2 Sept. 2015, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2015 3649).

50 Amended by No I of the O of 2 Sept. 2015, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2015 3649).

51 Amended by No I of the O of 2 Sept. 2015, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2015 3649).

52 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 2 Sept. 2015, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2015 3649).

Art. 24 Reimbursement of the opposition fee 53  

1 If an op­pos­i­tion is not sub­mit­ted with­in the time lim­it or if the op­pos­i­tion fee is not paid on time, the op­pos­i­tion shall be con­sidered not to have been filed. No costs shall be in­curred; any op­pos­i­tion fee that has already been paid shall be re­im­bursed.

2 If a pro­ceed­ing be­comes ground­less or is settled or with­drawn, half of the op­pos­i­tion fee shall be re­im­bursed.

53 Amended by No I of the O of 14 March 2008, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2008 (AS 2008 1893).

Section 2a Procedure for Cancelling a Trade Mark Registration on the Grounds of Non-Use54

54 Inserted by No I of the O of 2 Sept. 2015, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2015 3649).

Art. 24a Form and content of the request  

The re­quest for can­cel­la­tion of a trade mark re­gis­tra­tion on the grounds of non-use of the trade mark must be sub­mit­ted in two cop­ies and must in­clude:

a.
the sur­name and first name or the com­pany name, the ad­dress of the ap­plic­ant and, where ap­plic­able, their ad­dress for ser­vice in Switzer­land;
b.
the num­ber of the trade mark re­gis­tra­tion for which a can­cel­la­tion is re­ques­ted, as well as the name or com­pany of the pro­pri­et­or of the trade mark;
c.
a de­clar­a­tion of the ex­tent of the can­cel­la­tion;
d.
an ex­plan­a­tion of the re­quest for can­cel­la­tion which, in par­tic­u­lar, sub­stan­ti­ates the claim of non-use;
e.
evid­ence.
Art. 24b Address for service in Switzerland  

1 If an ap­plic­ant who is re­quired un­der Art­icle 42 TmPA to in­dic­ate an ad­dress for ser­vice in Switzer­land does not provide this when fil­ing the re­quest, the IPI shall grant a grace peri­od. The IPI shall also in­form the ap­plic­ant that fail­ure to com­ply be­fore ex­piry of the grace peri­od will res­ult in dis­missal of the re­quest.

2 A de­fend­ant who must in­dic­ate an ad­dress for ser­vice in Switzer­land must provide this with­in the time lim­it set by the IPI. The IPI shall in­form the de­fend­ant that the de­fend­ant will be ex­cluded from the pro­ceed­ings if the de­fend­ant fails to ful­fil this ob­lig­a­tion.

Art. 24c Exchange of written submissions  

1 The IPI shall bring any re­quest for can­cel­la­tion that is not mani­festly in­ad­miss­ible to the at­ten­tion of the de­fend­ant and shall set a time lim­it for re­sponse.

2 The de­fend­ant must sub­mit two cop­ies of the re­sponse.

3 In their re­sponse, the de­fend­ant must sub­stan­ti­ate, in par­tic­u­lar, the use of the trade mark or prop­er reas­ons for its non-use.

4 The IPI shall enter in­to fur­ther ex­changes of writ­ten sub­mis­sions where jus­ti­fied by the cir­cum­stances.

Art. 24d Multiple requests and suspension of proceedings  

1 Art­icle 23 para­graphs 1 and 2 shall ap­ply mu­tatis mutandis for the can­cel­la­tion of a trade mark re­gis­tra­tion on the grounds of non-use of the trade mark.

2 The IPI may sus­pend pro­ceed­ings if the de­cision on the can­cel­la­tion de­pends on the out­come of civil pro­ceed­ings or oth­er pro­ceed­ings.

Art. 24e Reimbursement of the cancellation fee  

1 If the re­quest for can­cel­la­tion is sub­mit­ted be­fore the ex­piry of the time lim­it un­der Art­icle 35a para­graph 2 TmPA and Art­icle 50a of this Or­din­ance or if the can­cel­la­tion fee is not paid on time, the re­quest shall be con­sidered not to have been filed. No charges shall be in­curred; any can­cel­la­tion fee that has already been paid shall be re­im­bursed.

2 If a pro­ceed­ing be­comes ground­less or is settled or with­drawn, half of the can­cel­la­tion fee shall be re­im­bursed. If the re­quire­ments un­der Art­icle 33b of the Fed­er­al Act on Ad­min­is­trat­ive Pro­ced­ure of 20 Decem­ber 196855 (APA) are ful­filled, the fee shall be fully re­im­bursed.56

55 SR 172.021

56 Amended by No I of the O of 18 Aug. 2021, in force since 1 Dec. 2021 (AS 2021 510).

Section 3 Renewal of the Trade Mark Registration

Art. 25 Notification of expiry of the term of validity 57  

Be­fore the term of valid­ity ex­pires, the IPI may re­mind the right hold­er entered in the Re­gister, or their rep­res­ent­at­ive, about the date of ex­piry and the pos­sib­il­ity of re­new­al. The IPI may also send such no­ti­fic­a­tions abroad.

57 Amended by No I of the O of 18 Oct. 2006, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 4479).

Art. 26 Procedure 58  

1 The ap­plic­a­tion for re­new­al of a trade mark re­gis­tra­tion may be sub­mit­ted, at the earli­est, twelve months pri­or to the ex­piry of the term of valid­ity.59

2 The re­new­al takes ef­fect on ex­piry of the pre­vi­ous term of valid­ity.

3 The IPI shall provide the pro­pri­et­or of the trade mark with a con­firm­a­tion of the re­new­al of the re­gis­tra­tion.60

4 The re­new­al fee must be paid with­in the time lim­its un­der Art­icle 10 para­graph 3 TmPA.61

5 If the re­new­al fee is paid after the ex­piry of the term of valid­ity, a sur­charge must be paid.62

58 Amended by No I of the O of 8 March 2002, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2002 (AS 2002 1119).

59 Amended by No I of the O of 8 March 2002, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2002 (AS 2002 1119).

60 Amended by No I of the O of 2 Dec. 2016, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2016 4829).

61 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 25 Oct. 1995 (AS 19955158). Amended by No I of the O of 2 Dec. 2016, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2016 4829).

62 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 25 Oct. 1995 (AS 19955158). Amended by No I of the O of 2 Dec. 2016, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2016 4829).

Art. 27 Reimbursement of the renewal fee 63  

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

63 Amended by No I of the O of 14 March 2008, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2008 (AS 2008 1891).

Section 4 Amendments to the Trade Mark Registration

Art. 28 Assignment  

1 The re­quest for re­gis­tra­tion of the as­sign­ment must be made by the former pro­pri­et­or of the trade mark or the ac­quirer and must in­clude:

a.
an ex­press de­clar­a­tion by the former pro­pri­et­or or an­oth­er sat­is­fact­ory doc­u­ment stat­ing that the trade mark has been trans­ferred to the ac­quirer;
b.64
the sur­name and first name or com­pany name, the ad­dress of the ac­quirer and, where ap­plic­able, their ad­dress for ser­vice in Switzer­land;
c.
in the case of par­tial as­sign­ment, an in­dic­a­tion of the goods or ser­vices for which the trade mark has been as­signed.

2...65

64 Amended by No I of the O of 11 May 2011, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2011 (AS 2011 2243).

65 Re­pealed by No I of the O of 2 Dec. 2016, with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2016 4829).

Art. 29 Licensing  

1 The re­quest for the re­gis­tra­tion of a li­cence must be made by the pro­pri­et­or of the trade mark or by the li­censee and must in­clude:

a.
an ex­press de­clar­a­tion by the pro­pri­et­or of the trade mark or an­oth­er sat­is­fact­ory doc­u­ment stat­ing that the pro­pri­et­or au­thor­ises the li­censee to use the trade mark;
b.
the sur­name and first name or 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 goods and ser­vices or the ter­rit­ory for which the li­cence is gran­ted.

2 For the re­gis­tra­tion of a sub-li­cence, para­graph 1 ap­plies. In ad­di­tion, it must be proven that the li­censee is au­thor­ised to grant sub-li­cences.

3 As long as an ex­clus­ive li­cence is entered in the Re­gister, no oth­er li­cences that are in­com­pat­ible with the ex­clus­ive li­cence shall be entered in the Re­gister for the same trade mark.66

66 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 2 Dec. 2016, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2016 4829).

Art. 30 Other amendments to the trade mark registration  

On the basis of an ap­pro­pri­ate de­clar­a­tion by the pro­pri­et­or of the trade mark or an­oth­er sat­is­fact­ory doc­u­ment, the IPI shall re­gister:

a.
the usu­fruct of the trade mark and pledging of the trade mark;
b.
re­stric­tions on powers of dis­pos­al ordered by courts and com­puls­ory en­force­ment au­thor­it­ies;
c.
amend­ments con­cern­ing re­gistered in­form­a­tion.
Art. 31 Cancellation of third party rights  

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

Art. 32 Rectifications  

1 In­cor­rect re­gister entries shall be rec­ti­fied without delay at the re­quest of the trade mark pro­pri­et­or.

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

Art. 33 and 3467  

67 Re­pealed by No I of the O of 18 Oct. 2006, with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 4479).

Section 5 Cancellation of the Trade Mark Registration

Art. 3568  

Par­tial or full can­cel­la­tion of the trade mark re­gis­tra­tion is free of charge. Can­cel­la­tion on the grounds of non-use is not free of charge.

68 Amended by No I of the O of 2 Sept. 2015, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2015 3649).

Chapter 3 Dossier and Trade Mark Register

Section 1 Dossier

Art. 36 Content  

1 The IPI shall main­tain a dossier for each ap­plic­a­tion for re­gis­tra­tion and each trade mark re­gis­tra­tion, con­tain­ing the fol­low­ing:

a.
the stages of the re­gis­tra­tion pro­ced­ure, any op­pos­i­tion pro­ceed­ings and any can­cel­la­tion pro­ced­ures on the grounds of non-use;
b.
the re­new­al and can­cel­la­tion of the re­gis­tra­tion, any in­ter­na­tion­al re­gis­tra­tion as well as any amend­ments to trade mark law;
c.
oth­er amend­ments to the trade mark re­gis­tra­tion.69

2 The reg­u­la­tions for a guar­an­tee or col­lect­ive mark or the reg­u­la­tions for a geo­graph­ic­al mark must also be in­cluded in the dossier.70

3 Of­fi­cial doc­u­ments of evid­ence that dis­close man­u­fac­tur­ing or trade secrets shall be filed sep­ar­ately on re­quest. This will be noted in the dossier.71

4 ...72

69 Amended by No I of the O of 2 Sept. 2015, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2015 3649).

70 Amended by No I of the O of 2 Sept. 2015, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2015 3649).

71 Amended by No I of the O of 18 Oct. 2006, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 4479).

72 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 22 Jan. 1997 (AS 1997865). Re­pealed by No I of the O of 3 Dec. 2004, with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2005 (AS 2004 5019).

Art. 37 Inspection of the files  

1 Pri­or to the re­gis­tra­tion of the trade mark, the dossier may be in­spec­ted by:

a.
the ap­plic­ant and their rep­res­ent­at­ive;
b.
per­sons who prove that the ap­plic­ant is ac­cus­ing them of in­fringing the ap­plic­ant’s right to the filed trade mark or has warned them of such an in­fringe­ment;
c.
oth­er per­sons with the ex­press con­sent of the ap­plic­ant or their rep­res­ent­at­ive.

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

3 Any­one may in­spect the dossier after the trade mark 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 (Art. 36 para. 3) fol­low­ing con­sulta­tion with the pro­pri­et­or of the trade mark.

5 On re­quest, the files to be in­spec­ted shall be is­sued in the form of cop­ies.73

73 Amended by No I of the O of 18 Oct. 2006, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 4479).

Art. 38 Information on applications for registration  

1 The IPI shall provide third parties with in­form­a­tion on ap­plic­a­tions for re­gis­tra­tion in­clud­ing with­drawn or re­jec­ted ap­plic­a­tions.74

2 The in­form­a­tion shall be lim­ited to:

a.
de­tails which are pub­lished when a trade mark is re­gistered;
b.
de­tails of the reas­ons for the re­fus­al of an ap­plic­a­tion.75

74 Amended by No I of the O of 18 Oct. 2006, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 4479).

75 Amended by No I of the O of 2 Sept. 2015, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2015 3649).

Art. 39 Retention of files  

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 with­drawn, re­fused or fully re­voked re­gis­tra­tions (Art. 33 TmPA) for five years fol­low­ing the with­draw­al, re­fus­al or re­voc­a­tion.76

3 ...77

76 Amended by No I of the O of 2 Dec. 2016, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2016 4829).

77 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 22 Jan. 1997 (AS 1997865). Re­pealed by No I of the O of 3 Dec. 2004, with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2005 (AS 2004 5019).

Section 2 The Trade Mark Register

Art. 40 Register content  

1 The entry of a trade mark in the Re­gister shall in­clude:

a.
the num­ber of the re­gis­tra­tion;
b.
the fil­ing date;
c.
the sur­name and first name or the com­pany name as well as the ad­dress of the pro­pri­et­or of the trade mark;
d.
the name and ad­dress of the rep­res­ent­at­ive, where ap­plic­able;
e.
a rep­res­ent­a­tion of the trade mark;
f.78
the goods and ser­vices for which the trade mark is claimed, with an in­dic­a­tion of the classes un­der the Nice Clas­si­fic­a­tion79;
g.
the date of pub­lic­a­tion of the re­gis­tra­tion;
h.80
de­tails of the re­place­ment of a former na­tion­al re­gis­tra­tion by an in­ter­na­tion­al re­gis­tra­tion;
i.81
the date of re­gis­tra­tion;
k.82
the num­ber of the ap­plic­a­tion for re­gis­tra­tion.

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

a.
an in­dic­a­tion of the col­our or col­our com­bin­a­tion claimed;
b.83
the words «three-di­men­sion­al trade mark» or oth­er in­dic­a­tions which spe­cify the par­tic­u­lar type of trade mark;
c.
the words «trade mark which has ac­quired dis­tinct­ive­ness through use»;
d.
an in­dic­a­tion that it is a guar­an­tee or a col­lect­ive mark;
dbis.84
an in­dic­a­tion that it is a geo­graph­ic­al mark;
e.
in­form­a­tion con­cern­ing the pri­or­ity claim in ac­cord­ance with Art­icles 7 and 8 TmPA;
f.85
...

3 In ad­di­tion to the date of pub­lic­a­tion, the fol­low­ing shall be entered in the Trade Mark Re­gister:

a.
the re­new­al of the trade mark re­gis­tra­tion and the date on which the re­new­al comes in­to ef­fect;
b.
the com­plete or par­tial re­voc­a­tion of the trade mark re­gis­tra­tion;
c.
the com­plete or par­tial can­cel­la­tion of the trade mark re­gis­tra­tion with the reas­on for the can­cel­la­tion;
d.
the com­plete or par­tial as­sign­ment of the trade mark;
e.86
the grant of a li­cence or sub-li­cence, where ap­plic­able, with an in­dic­a­tion as to wheth­er it con­cerns an ex­clus­ive li­cence or a par­tial li­cence;
f.
the usu­fruct of the trade mark and pledging of the trade mark;
g.
re­stric­tions on powers of dis­pos­al ordered by the courts and com­puls­ory en­force­ment au­thor­it­ies;
h.
amend­ments con­cern­ing re­gistered in­form­a­tion;
i.
ref­er­ence to any amend­ment to the reg­u­la­tions gov­ern­ing the use of the trade mark.

4 The IPI may enter oth­er in­form­a­tion of pub­lic in­terest.

78 Amended by No I of the O of 2 Dec. 2016, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2016 4829).

79 SR 0.232.112.7, 0.232.112.8,0.232.112.9

80 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 22 Jan. 1997, in force since 1 May 1997 (AS 1997 865).

81 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 22 Jan. 1997, in force since 1 May 1997 (AS 1997 865).

82 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 22 Jan. 1997, in force since 1 May 1997 (AS 1997 865).

83 Amended by No I of the O of 8 March 2002, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2002 (AS 2002 1119).

84 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 2 Sept. 2015, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2015 3649).

85 Re­pealed by No I of the O of 22 Jan. 1997, with ef­fect from 1 May 1997 (AS 1997 865).

86 Amended by No I of the O of 2 Dec. 2016, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2016 4829).

Art. 40a87  

87 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 22 Jan. 1997(AS 1997865). Re­pealed by No I of the O of 3 Dec. 2004, with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2005 (AS 2004 5019).

Art. 41 Inspection and extracts from the Register 88  

1 Any­one may in­spect the Trade Mark Re­gister.

2 The IPI shall is­sue ex­tracts from the Trade Mark Re­gister.89

88 Amended by No I of the O of 18 Oct. 2006, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 4479).

89 Amended by No I of the O of 2 Dec. 2016, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2016 4829).

Art. 41a Priority document for Swiss first filings 90  

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

90 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 25 Oct. 1995 (AS 19955158). Amended by No I of the O of 18 Oct. 2006, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 4479).

Chapter 4 Publications by the IPI 91

91 Amended by No I of the O of 3 Dec. 2004, in force since 1 Jan. 2005 (AS 2004 5019).

Art. 42 Subject matter of the publication  

The IPI shall pub­lish:

a.
the re­gis­tra­tion of the trade mark in­clud­ing the in­form­a­tion un­der Art­icle 40 para­graph 1 let­ters a–f and para­graph 2 let­ters a–e;
b.
the entries un­der Art­icle 40 para­graph 3;
c.
the in­form­a­tion un­der Art­icle 40 para­graph 4 where its pub­lic­a­tion ap­pears ap­pro­pri­ate.
Art. 43 Organ of publication 92  

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.

92 Amended by No I of the O of 3 Dec. 2004, in force since 1 Jan. 2005 (AS 2004 5019).

Art. 4493  

93 Re­pealed by No I of the O of 8 March 2002, with ef­fect from 1 Ju­ly 2002 (AS 2002 1119).

Chapter 5 ...

Art. 45-4694  

94 Re­pealed by No I of the O of 25 Oct. 1995, with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 1996 (AS 1995 5158).

Chapter 6 International Registration of Trade Marks 95

95 Amended by No I of the O of 22 Jan. 1997, in force since 1 May 1997 (AS 1997 865).

Section 1 Application for International Registration

Art. 47 Filing the application  

1 The ap­plic­a­tion for in­ter­na­tion­al re­gis­tra­tion of a trade mark or of an ap­plic­a­tion for re­gis­tra­tion must be sub­mit­ted to the IPI if Switzer­land is the coun­try of ori­gin as defined in Art­icle 1 para­graph 3 of the Mad­rid Agree­ment of 14 Ju­ly 196796 con­cern­ing the In­ter­na­tion­al Re­gis­tra­tion of Marks (Mad­rid Agree­ment) or as defined in Art­icle 2 para­graph 1 of the Pro­tocol of 27 June 198997 re­lat­ing to the Mad­rid Agree­ment con­cern­ing the In­ter­na­tion­al Re­gis­tra­tion of Marks (Mad­rid Pro­tocol).98

2 Either a form from the In­ter­na­tion­al Bur­eau of the World In­tel­lec­tu­al Prop­erty Or­gan­iz­a­tion (WIPO) or a form ap­proved by the IPI must be used to file the ap­plic­a­tion.99

2bis If an ap­plic­a­tion that is oth­er­wise form­ally val­id con­tains all the in­form­a­tion re­quired, the IPI may waive the re­quire­ment to sub­mit the form.100

3 The IPI shall de­term­ine the lan­guage in which the goods and ser­vices for which the trade mark or the ap­plic­a­tion for re­gis­tra­tion is claimed must be in­dic­ated.101

4 The na­tion­al fee (Art­icle 45 para­graph 2 TmPA) must be paid at the re­quest by the IPI.102

96 SR 0.232.112.3

97 SR 0.232.112.4

98 Amended by No I of the O of 22 Jan. 1997, in force since 1 May 1997 (AS 1997 865).

99 Amended by No I of the O of 18 Aug. 2021, in force since 1 Dec. 2021 (AS 2021 510).

100 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 2 Dec. 2016, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2016 4829).

101 Amended by No I of the O of 22 Jan. 1997, in force since 1 May 1997 (AS 1997 865).

102 Amended by No I of the O of 22 Jan. 1997, in force since 1 May 1997 (AS 1997 865).

Art. 48 Examination by the IPI  

1 If an ap­plic­a­tion filed with the IPI does not ful­fil the form­al re­quire­ments of the TmPA, this Or­din­ance or the Com­mon Reg­u­la­tions to the Mad­rid Agree­ment of 18 Janu­ary 1996103 and the Mad­rid Pro­tocol, or if the pre­scribed fees are not paid, the IPI shall set the ap­plic­ant a time lim­it to rem­edy the de­fi­ciency.104

2 If the ap­plic­ant does not rem­edy the de­fi­ciency with­in the time lim­it, the IPI shall re­fuse the ap­plic­a­tion. The IPI may set fur­ther time lim­its in ex­cep­tion­al cases.

103 SR 0.232.112.21

104 Amended by No I of the O of 22 Jan. 1997, in force since 1 May 1997 (AS 1997 865).

Art. 49 Dossier  

1 The IPI shall main­tain a dossier for each in­ter­na­tion­ally re­gistered trade mark with Switzer­land as the coun­try of ori­gin.

2...105

105 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 22 Jan. 1997 (AS 1997865). Re­pealed by No I of the O of 3 Dec. 2004, with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2005 (AS 2004 5019).

Section 2 Effect of International Registration in Switzerland

Art. 50 Opposition proceedings  

1 In the case of an op­pos­i­tion to an in­ter­na­tion­al re­gis­tra­tion, the op­pos­i­tion peri­od un­der Art­icle 31 para­graph 2 TmPA shall be­gin on the first day of the month fol­low­ing the month of pub­lic­a­tion in the or­gan of pub­lic­a­tion of the In­ter­na­tion­al Bur­eau of WIPO.106

2 The IPI shall main­tain a dossier in which the stages of the op­pos­i­tion pro­ceed­ings are re­cor­ded.

3 ...107

106 Amended by No I of the O of 18 Aug. 2021, in force since 1 Dec. 2021 (AS 2021 510).

107 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 22 Jan. 1997 (AS 1997865). Re­pealed by No I of the O of 3 Dec. 2004, with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2005 (AS 2004 5019).

Art. 50a Procedure for cancellation of an international registration on the grounds of non-use 108  

The re­quest for can­cel­la­tion of an in­ter­na­tion­al re­gis­tra­tion on the grounds of non-use may be filed at the earli­est:

a.
if a no­ti­fic­a­tion of a pro­vi­sion­al re­fus­al of pro­tec­tion has been is­sued: five years after the con­clu­sion of the pro­ced­ure for the grant of pro­tec­tion in Switzer­land;
b.
if no re­fus­al of pro­tec­tion has been is­sued: five years after ex­piry of the time lim­it for no­ti­fic­a­tion of the re­fus­al of pro­tec­tion or five years fol­low­ing the state­ment of grant of pro­tec­tion.

108 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 2 Sept. 2015, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2015 3649).

Art. 51 Suspension of the decision  

1 If the op­pos­i­tion is based on an in­ter­na­tion­al re­gis­tra­tion which is the sub­ject of a pro­vi­sion­al re­fus­al of pro­tec­tion by the IPI, the IPI may sus­pend the de­cision on the op­pos­i­tion un­til a fi­nal de­cision on the re­fus­al of pro­tec­tion has been taken.

2 If the in­ter­na­tion­al re­gis­tra­tion lapses and a con­ver­sion in­to a na­tion­al ap­plic­a­tion for re­gis­tra­tion is pos­sible in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 46a TmPA, the IPI may sus­pend the de­cision on the op­pos­i­tion un­til the con­ver­sion has taken place.109

109 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 22 Jan. 1997, in force since 1 May 1997 (AS 1997 865).

Art. 52 Refusal of protection and invalidation 110  

1 The fol­low­ing ap­plies for in­ter­na­tion­ally re­gistered trade marks:

a.
the re­fus­al of pro­tec­tion shall re­place the re­fus­al of an ap­plic­a­tion for re­gis­tra­tion un­der Art­icle 30 para­graph 2 let­ters a and c–e TmPA and the re­voc­a­tion of the re­gis­tra­tion un­der Art­icle 33 TmPA;
b.
the in­val­id­a­tion shall re­place the can­cel­la­tion of the re­gis­tra­tion un­der Art­icle 35 let­ters c–e TmPA.

2 The IPI shall not pub­lish the re­fus­al of pro­tec­tion nor the in­val­id­a­tion.

110 Amended by No I of the O of 2 Sept. 2015, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2015 3649).

Chapter 6a Indications of Source111

111 Inserted by No I of the O of 2 Sept. 2015, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2015 3649).

Section 1 General Provisions

Art. 52a Subject matter and scope  

1 This Chapter reg­u­lates the use of in­dic­a­tions of source for:

a.
products un­der Art­icle 48c TmPA;
b.
ser­vices un­der Art­icle 49 TmPA.

2 For food­stuffs, the Or­din­ance of 2 Septem­ber 2015112 on the Use of Swiss In­dic­a­tions of Source for Food­stuffs as well as Art­icles 52c and 52d of this Or­din­ance ap­ply.

Art. 52b Definitions  

In this Or­din­ance:

a.
Products un­der Art­icle 48c TmPA means products which do not fall un­der the cat­egory of nat­ur­al products or food­stuffs, in par­tic­u­lar in­dus­tri­al products;
b.
Nat­ur­al products means products un­der Art­icle 48aTmPA which come dir­ectly from nature and are not pro­cessed for pla­cing on the mar­ket;
c.
Ma­ter­i­alsmeans raw ma­ter­i­als in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 48cTmPA;they in­clude the ac­tu­al raw ma­ter­i­als as well as aux­il­i­ary ma­ter­i­als and semi-fin­ished products.
Art. 52c Use of references to a region or place  

If goods or ser­vices ful­fil the leg­al cri­ter­ia of ori­gin for Switzer­land as a whole, they may be la­belled with a ref­er­ence to a re­gion or place in Switzer­land. They must ful­fil ad­di­tion­al re­quire­ments if:

a.
a par­tic­u­lar qual­ity or an­oth­er char­ac­ter­ist­ic of the goods or ser­vice is es­sen­tially due to the geo­graph­ic­al ori­gin in­dic­ated; or
b.
the re­gion or place gives the goods or ser­vice a par­tic­u­lar repu­ta­tion.
Art. 52d Prohibition of misuse  

1 It is pro­hib­ited to mis­use any flex­ib­il­ity in ap­ply­ing the cri­ter­ia when de­term­in­ing the place of ori­gin of a product or ser­vice.

2 The fol­low­ing, in par­tic­u­lar, con­sti­tute mis­use:

a.
us­ing dif­fer­ent meth­ods, without ob­ject­ive jus­ti­fic­a­tion, to cal­cu­late the costs of ma­ter­i­als that con­sti­tute the goods when de­term­in­ing their place of ori­gin; or
b.
if the user’s activ­ity that took place in Switzer­land is so minor that it is in ob­vi­ous dis­pro­por­tion to the activ­ity abroad, in par­tic­u­lar if the costs in­curred in Switzer­land are neg­li­gible in com­par­is­on to the costs of ma­ter­i­als that had to be pur­chased abroad due to their in­suf­fi­cient avail­ab­il­ity in Switzer­land.

Section 2 Indications of Source for Products under Article 48cTmPA, in particular Industrial Products

Art. 52e Relevant manufacturing costs  

1 The fol­low­ing costs are con­sidered as man­u­fac­tur­ing costs un­der Art­icle 48c para­graphs 1 and 2 TmPA:

a.
re­search and de­vel­op­ment costs;
b.
ma­ter­i­al costs;
c.
pro­duc­tion costs in­clud­ing costs for the qual­ity as­sur­ance and cer­ti­fic­a­tion which are pre­scribed by law or stand­ard­ised in an eco­nom­ic sec­tor.

2 Costs in­curred after the con­clu­sion of the pro­duc­tion pro­cess are not con­sidered to be man­u­fac­tur­ing costs.

Art. 52f Research and development costs  

1 Re­search costs in­clude the costs for product-re­lated re­search and non-product re­lated re­search.

2 De­vel­op­ment costs are the costs which are in­curred from the con­cep­tion of the product up un­til it is mar­ket-ready.

Art. 52g Allocation of research and development costs  

1 Product-re­lated re­search costs and de­vel­op­ment costs are dir­ectly al­loc­ated to the man­u­fac­tur­ing costs of the product.

2 Non-product re­lated re­search costs are al­loc­ated to the man­u­fac­tur­ing costs of the in­di­vidu­al products by a suit­able al­loc­a­tion key.

3 The re­search and de­vel­op­ment costs may be al­loc­ated to the man­u­fac­tur­ing costs fol­low­ing the end of the de­pre­ci­ation peri­od cus­tom­ary in the in­dustry. The amount al­loc­ated cor­res­ponds to the av­er­age an­nu­al de­pre­ci­ation of the re­search and de­vel­op­ment costs dur­ing the de­pre­ci­ation peri­od cus­tom­ary in the in­dustry.

Art. 52h Material costs  

1 Ma­ter­i­al costs in­clude dir­ect and in­dir­ect ma­ter­i­al costs.

2 Dir­ect ma­ter­i­al costs are the ma­ter­i­al costs which are dir­ectly at­trib­ut­able to a product.

3 In­dir­ect ma­ter­i­al costs are con­sidered to be ma­ter­i­al costs not covered by para­graph 2, in par­tic­u­lar, costs in­curred for tem­por­ary stor­age or trans­port dur­ing the pro­duc­tion pro­cess.

Art. 52i Allocation of material costs  

1 The dir­ect ma­ter­i­al costs are al­loc­ated to the man­u­fac­tur­ing costs of the product us­ing a stand­ard­ised meth­od of cal­cu­la­tion, in par­tic­u­lar, ac­cord­ing to one of the fol­low­ing cal­cu­la­tion meth­ods:

a.
the dir­ect ma­ter­i­al costs are al­loc­ated to the man­u­fac­tur­ing costs at the per­cent­age which cor­res­ponds to the share of the costs of ma­ter­i­als in­curred in Switzer­land;
b.
the dir­ect ma­ter­i­al costs are al­loc­ated to the man­u­fac­tur­ing costs at the fol­low­ing per­cent­ages:
1.
100 per cent for ma­ter­i­als which ful­fil the re­quire­ments of Art­icles 48–48c TmPA,
2.
0 per cent for ma­ter­i­als which do not ful­fil the re­quire­ments of Art­icles 48–48c TmPA.

2 The in­dir­ect ma­ter­i­al costs shall be al­loc­ated, by suit­able means, to the man­u­fac­tur­ing costs of the in­di­vidu­al products.

Art. 52j Allocation of costs for auxiliary materials  

The costs for aux­il­i­ary ma­ter­i­als do not need to be al­loc­ated to the man­u­fac­tur­ing costs if:

a.
the aux­il­i­ary ma­ter­i­als are of com­pletely sec­ond­ary sig­ni­fic­ance to the char­ac­ter­ist­ics of the products; and
b.
the costs for the aux­il­i­ary ma­ter­i­als are neg­li­gible in com­par­is­on to the man­u­fac­tur­ing costs of the product.
Art. 52k Materials unavailable in sufficient quantities in Switzerland  

If a ma­ter­i­al is not avail­able in suf­fi­cient quant­it­ies in Switzer­land ac­cord­ing to pub­licly ac­cess­ible in­dustry in­form­a­tion, the man­u­fac­turer may as­sume that they are per­mit­ted to ex­clude the costs of ma­ter­i­als pur­chased abroad, up to the in­dic­ated un­avail­ab­il­ity rate, from the cal­cu­la­tion of the man­u­fac­tur­ing costs.

Art. 52l Production costs  

1 The pro­duc­tion costs con­sist of dir­ect pro­duc­tion costs and in­dir­ect pro­duc­tion costs.

2 Pro­duc­tion costs in­clude, in par­tic­u­lar:

a.
salar­ies;
b.
salary-re­lated pro­duc­tion costs;
c.
ma­chine-re­lated pro­duc­tion costs;
d.
costs for qual­ity as­sur­ance and cer­ti­fic­a­tion which are pre­scribed by law or stand­ard­ised in an eco­nom­ic sec­tor.
Art. 52m Allocation of the production costs  

1 Dir­ect pro­duc­tion costs are dir­ectly al­loc­ated to the man­u­fac­tur­ing costs of the product.

2 In­dir­ect pro­duc­tion costs are al­loc­ated to the man­u­fac­tur­ing costs of the in­di­vidu­al products by a suit­able key.

Art. 52n Calculation of manufacturing costs incurred abroad  

Man­u­fac­tur­ing costs in­curred abroad may be con­ver­ted in­to Swiss francs as fol­lows:

a.
at the cur­rent ex­change rate; or
b.
at the av­er­age rate used by the com­pany in its daily busi­ness.

Section 3 Indications of Source for Services

Art. 52o  

A place of ef­fect­ive ad­min­is­tra­tion un­der Art­icle 49 TmPA is pre­sumed to be the place where:

a.
the activ­it­ies which are es­sen­tial to the ful­fil­ment of the com­mer­cial pur­pose are car­ried out; and
b.
the de­cisions which de­term­ine the pro­vi­sion of the ser­vice are made.

Chapter 6b International Registration of Geographical Indications113

113 Inserted by No I of the O of 18 Aug. 2021, in force since 1 Dec. 2021 (AS 2021 510).

Section 1 Application for the International Registration or the Amendment of the International Registration of a Swiss Appellation of Origin or Geographical Indication

Art. 52p Filing the application  

1 The ap­plic­a­tion for the in­ter­na­tion­al re­gis­tra­tion or the amend­ment of the in­ter­na­tion­al re­gis­tra­tion of an ap­pel­la­tion of ori­gin or a geo­graph­ic­al in­dic­a­tion whose geo­graph­ic­al area of ori­gin lies on Swiss ter­rit­ory must be filed with the IPI.

2 Either a form from the In­ter­na­tion­al Bur­eau of WIPO or a form ap­proved by the IPI must be used to file the ap­plic­a­tion.

3 The ap­plic­a­tion must be filed in French.

4 The IPI shall main­tain a dossier for each ap­plic­a­tion.

Art. 52q Examination of the application  

1 The IPI shall de­cide wheth­er the ap­plic­a­tion for in­ter­na­tion­al re­gis­tra­tion or the amend­ment of an in­ter­na­tion­al re­gis­tra­tion meets the re­quire­ments un­der the TmPA, this Or­din­ance and the Geneva Act and its Reg­u­la­tions.

2 If an ap­plic­a­tion does not meet the re­quire­ments or if the pre­scribed fees have not been paid, the IPI shall set the ap­plic­ant a time lim­it to rem­edy the de­fi­ciency.

3 If the ap­plic­ant does not rem­edy the de­fi­ciency with­in the time lim­it, the ap­plic­a­tion shall be re­fused. The IPI may set fur­ther time lim­its in ex­cep­tion­al cases.

Section 2 Refusal of the Effects of an International Registration in Switzerland and Safeguards in Respect of Other Rights

Art. 52r  

1 Ap­plic­a­tions in­vok­ing a ground un­der Art­icle 50epara­graph 1 TmPA and ap­plic­a­tions in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 50e para­graph 4 TmPA may be sub­mit­ted:

a.
by any party in ac­cord­ance with the APA114;
b.
by a can­ton if it con­cerns a for­eign de­nom­in­a­tion that is the same as or sim­il­ar to that of a can­ton­al geo­graph­ic­al unit or a tra­di­tion­al de­nom­in­a­tion used in Switzer­land.

2 Ap­plic­a­tions must be sub­mit­ted in writ­ing to the IPI with­in three months of the pub­lic­a­tion of the in­ter­na­tion­al re­gis­tra­tion by the In­ter­na­tion­al Bur­eau. The time lim­it shall be­gin on the first day of the month fol­low­ing the pub­lic­a­tion in the or­gan of pub­lic­a­tion of the In­ter­na­tion­al Bur­eau of WIPO.

3 Art­icles 20–24 ap­ply by ana­logy.

4 The IPI may in­vite the af­fected fed­er­al and can­ton­al au­thor­it­ies to com­ment.

Chapter 7 Producer Identification Marks on Watches and Watch Movements

Art. 53  

1 Swiss watches and watch move­ments as defined in the Or­din­ance of 23 Decem­ber 1971115 on the Use of the Des­ig­na­tion «Swiss» for Watches must dis­play the iden­ti­fic­a­tion mark of the man­u­fac­turer. On watches, the iden­ti­fic­a­tion mark must be placed on the case or on the dial.

2 The pro­du­cer iden­ti­fic­a­tion mark must be clearly vis­ible and per­man­ently af­fixed. In­stead of the pro­du­cer iden­ti­fic­a­tion mark, the com­pany name or a trade mark owned by the man­u­fac­turer may be af­fixed.

3 It may only be used for Swiss products.

4 The Fed­er­a­tion of the Swiss Watch In­dustry FH is­sues the pro­du­cer iden­ti­fic­a­tion marks and main­tains a cor­res­pond­ing re­gister.

5 The grounds for re­fus­al un­der Art­icle 3 para­graph 1 TmPA also ap­ply to pro­du­cer iden­ti­fic­a­tion marks.

Chapter 8 Assistance provided by the FOCBS

Art. 54 Scope 116  

The as­sist­ance provided by the FO­CBS shall ex­tend to the move­ment of goods which un­law­fully bear a trade mark or an in­dic­a­tion of source in­to or out of the cus­toms ter­rit­ory.

116 Amended by No I of the O of 21 May 2008, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2008 (AS 2008 2547).

Art. 55 Application for assistance  

1 The pro­pri­et­or of the trade mark, the li­censee en­titled to in­sti­tute pro­ceed­ings, the per­son en­titled to use an in­dic­a­tion of source or a party (ap­plic­ant) en­titled to in­sti­tute pro­ceed­ings un­der Art­icle 56 TmPA, must sub­mit the ap­plic­a­tion for as­sist­ance to the Dir­ect­or­ate Gen­er­al of Cus­toms.117

1bis The Dir­ect­or­ate Gen­er­al of Cus­toms shall make a de­cision on the ap­plic­a­tion no later than 40 days after re­ceipt of the com­plete doc­u­ment­a­tion.118

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

117 Amended by No I of the O of 2 Sept. 2015, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2015 3649).

118 In­ser­ted by No I 3 of the O of 6 June 2014 on Of­fi­cial Pro­cessing Times for Mat­ters with­in the Jur­is­dic­tion of the Fed­er­al Cus­toms Ad­min­is­tra­tion, in force since 1 Sept. 2014 (AS 20142051).

Art. 56 Withholding of goods  

1 If the cus­toms of­fice with­holds goods, it shall re­tain the goods for a fee or shall place them in the cus­tody of a third party at the cost of the ap­plic­ant.119

2 It shall provide the ap­plic­ant with the name and ad­dress of the de­clar­ant, hold­er or own­er, a pre­cise de­scrip­tion and the quant­ity, and de­tails of the sender of the with­held goods in Switzer­land or abroad.120

3 If it is es­tab­lished pri­or to the ex­piry of the time lim­its un­der Art­icle 72 para­graphs 2 and 3 TmPA that the ap­plic­ant is un­able to ob­tain pre­lim­in­ary meas­ures, the goods shall be re­leased im­me­di­ately.121

119 Amended by An­nex 4 No 3 of the Cus­toms Or­din­ance of 1 Nov. 2006 in force since 1 May 2007 (AS 2007 1469).

120 Amended by No I of the O of 21 May 2008, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2008 (AS 2008 2547).

121 Amended by No I of the O of 2 Sept. 2015, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2015 3649).

Art. 56a Specimens or samples 122  

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

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

122 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 21 May 2008, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2008 (AS 2008 2547).

Art. 56b Safeguarding of manufacturing and trade secrets 123  

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

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

123 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 21 May 2008, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2008 (AS 2008 2547).

Art. 56c Safekeeping of evidence in the event of destruction of goods 124  

1 The FO­CBS shall keep the spe­ci­mens or samples col­lec­ted for a peri­od of one year start­ing from the date of no­ti­fic­a­tion of the de­clar­ant, right hold­er or own­er in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 72 para­graph 1 TmPA. After this time lim­it ex­pires, it shall re­quest the de­clar­ant, hold­er or own­er to take pos­ses­sion of the spe­ci­mens or 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 FO­CBS shall des­troy the spe­ci­mens or samples.

2 In­stead of col­lect­ing spe­ci­mens or samples, the FO­CBS may take pho­to­graphs of the des­troyed goods, provided this serves the pur­pose of pre­serving evid­ence.

124 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 21 May 2008, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2008 (AS 2008 2547).

Art. 57 Fees 125  

The fees for as­sist­ance provided by the FO­CBS are gov­erned by the Or­din­ance of 4 April 2007126 on the Fees charged by the Fed­er­al Of­fice for Cus­toms and Bor­der Se­cur­ity.

125 Amended by No I of the O of 21 May 2008, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2008 (AS 2008 2547).

126 SR 631.035

Chapter 9 Final Provisions

Section 1 Repeal of Current Legislation

Art. 58  

The fol­low­ing are re­pealed:

a.
the Or­din­ance of 24 April 1929127 on the Pro­tec­tion of Fact­ory and Trade Marks (TmPO);
b.
The Fed­er­al Coun­cil De­cree of 4 Novem­ber 1966128 con­cern­ing the Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Mad­rid Agree­ment on the In­ter­na­tion­al Re­gis­tra­tion of Fact­ory and Trade Marks.

Section 2 Transitional Provisions

Art. 59 Time limits  

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

Art. 60 Priority of use  

1 For the fil­ing of a trade mark in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 78 para­graph 1 TmPA, the date on which use of the trade mark com­menced shall be entered in the Trade Mark Re­gister and pub­lished.

2 If it con­cerns an in­ter­na­tion­ally re­gistered trade mark, the rel­ev­ant in­form­a­tion must be provided to the IPI by the end of the month of pub­lic­a­tion of the in­ter­na­tion­al re­gis­tra­tion; the date on which the use of the trade mark com­menced shall be entered in a spe­cial re­gister and pub­lished.

Art. 60a Transitional Provision to the Amendment of 2 September 2015 129  

Products man­u­fac­tured be­fore the com­mence­ment of the Amend­ment of 2 Septem­ber 2015 may be placed on the mar­ket for the first time with an in­dic­a­tion of source that com­plies with the law in force only un­til 31 Decem­ber 2018.

129 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 18 Oct. 2006 (AS 20064479). Amended by No I of the O of 2 Sept. 2015, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2015 3649).

Art. 60b Transitional Provision to the Amendment of 18 August 2021 130  

Un­til the or­gan of pub­lic­a­tion of the In­ter­na­tion­al Bur­eau of WIPO is op­er­a­tion­al, the IPI shall pub­lish the in­ter­na­tion­al re­gis­tra­tions of ap­pel­la­tions of ori­gin and geo­graph­ic­al in­dic­a­tions whose pro­tec­tion on Swiss ter­rit­ory has been re­ques­ted in the Fed­er­al Gaz­ette.

130 In­ser­ted by No I of the O of 18 Aug. 2021, in force since 1 Dec. 2021 (AS 2021 510).

Section 3 Commencement

Art. 61  

This Or­din­ance comes in­to force on 1 April 1993.

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