Swissberg Ltd.
Seefeldstrasse 224
P.O. Box
CH-8034 Zurich
T +41 44 388 81 81
F +41 44 388 81 82
e-mail
Swissberg Ltd.
Via Serlas 20
P.O. Box 92
CH-7500 St. Moritz
T +41 81 833 71 71
e-mail
Swissberg Ltd.
Bleichemattstrasse 11
P.O. Box
CH-5000 Aarau
T +41 62 824 61 61
e-mail
In Switzerland, basically all graphically representable signs can be used as trademarks in the legal sense as long as they distinguish a good or service from that of a competitor. Word marks, device marks and combined word and device marks are in the spotlight.
The advantages of the word mark are the broader scope of protection as well as the flexibility in the use. The owner of a word mark is free to use the word mark in any graphical representation. Accordingly a word mark is the best protection for a name.
The actual use of a device or a combined word and device mark must correspond to the sign as registered. This limits the possibility to adapt or modernize the respective sign. Accordingly such trademarks might become invalid due to non use after five years.
Descriptive signs belong to public domain: They must remain available to everyone equally and may not be monopolized. Any exclusively descriptive word, such as regarding the material, quality, type, or place of production, or the purpose of the good or any other purely descriptive indication may not be protected as a trademark. The exception to this general rule is the trademark with acquired distinctiveness through extensive and longstanding use (trademark with secondary meaning).
A trademark which is misleading about the properties of the goods or services will not be registered or registered only with restrictions. In particular, trademarks which include an indication of source may only be registered for goods which originate from the respective country.
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