SWITZERLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Philippe Nordmann, Marion Bähler, Christian Hagen, Samuel Lieberherr and Dario Glauser, Walder Wyss Ltd
skilled in the art. This is referred to as insuffi - cient disclosure. The plaintiff can also argue that important elements or steps relating to the inven - tion are not mentioned or obvious in the patent specification. Patent infringements can be prosecuted through both civil actions and criminal proceedings. Length of Protection Patents are protected for 20 years from the date of fil - ing. This period is generally not extendable. However, for certain products (eg, medicinal products) a sup - plementary protection certificate may be requested that extends patent protection for up to five years. 7.2 Trade Marks Definition A trade mark is a protected sign that distinguishes a company′s products or services from those of other companies. The following categories of trade marks are available: • individual trade marks, being the most common category, typically used by companies to identify and market their products and services; • collective trade marks, used for the identification and marketing of products and services by asso - ciations and their members; • guarantee trade marks, guaranteeing that goods and services possess specific characteristics (eg, regarding quality or geographical origin); and • geographical trade marks, requiring the exist - ence of a prior registration, a foreign (controlled) designation of origin recognised by Switzerland, a geographical indication, the existence of a Federal Council ordinance or an equivalent foreign regula - tion. Amongst others, the following types of trade marks are available: • word marks; • figurative marks (optionally with a colour claim); and • combined word and figurative marks (optionally with a colour claim).
The trade mark owner has the exclusive but transfer - able and licensable right to use the trade mark for goods or services for which it is registered and can prohibit third parties from using it. Application Swiss trade mark applications must be filed with the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property. Enforcement and Remedies Any trade mark can be challenged by means of an opposition if it could be confused with one or more other trade marks. The opposition must be filed with the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property within three months upon registration of the trade mark. Trade marks can be challenged at any time after the expiration of the opposition period before ordinary civil courts. Trade mark infringements can be prosecuted through both civil actions and criminal proceedings. The cancellation of a trade mark can be requested after a non-interrupted period of non-use of five years; it should be noted that the use of a trade mark either by the trade mark owner or by a third party with the consent of the trade mark owner is sufficient to pre - vent successful cancellation requests. Length of Protection Trade marks are protected for an initial period of ten years from the date of filing and can be renewed for an unlimited number of additional ten-year periods. 7.3 Industrial Designs Definition The design of products or parts of products is charac - terised in particular by the arrangement of lines, sur - faces, contours or colours, or by the materials used. Designs can be protected if they are: • new (ie, they have not been made publicly available prior to the date of application or priority); and • sufficiently distinctive from existing designs in
terms of key features. They must also not be:
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