SWITZERLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Peter Schramm, Timmy Pielmeier, Michael Ritscher and Andrea Schäffler, MLL Legal
MLL Legal Schiffbaustrasse 2 PO Box
8031 Zurich Switzerland Tel: +41 58 552 08 00 Email: zurich@mll-legal.com Web: www.mll-legal.com
1. Trade Mark and Copyright Law 1.1 Governing Law As Switzerland is governed by a civil law system, both copyright and trade mark law are governed by statu - tory law. • Trade marks are protected by the Federal Act on the Protection of Trade Marks and Indications of Source (“Swiss Trade Mark Protection Act”) and the Ordinance on the Protection of Trade Marks and Indications of Source. The Swiss Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI) issues further guidelines – eg, regarding opposition proceedings. • The rules on copyright are stipulated in the Fed - eral Act on Copyright and Related Rights (“Swiss Copyright Act”). Common law trade marks (in terms of trade mark pro - tection that is acquired without registration by mere use) are not provided by Swiss trade mark law, and common law copyright (in terms of copyright that is acquired or that extends beyond the scope granted by statutory law) does not exist in Switzerland. However, the law against unfair competition provides some pro - tection against appropriation and imitation, which can have a similar effect to copyright and trade mark law. 1.2 Conventions and Treaties/Rights of Foreign IP Holders Copyright protection in Switzerland can be claimed by all authors for all their protected works, regardless of the country of publication or the nationality of the author. Switzerland is a member of most international treaties concerning intellectual property law, including the following.
• Copyright: (a) the Berne Convention for the Protection of Lit - erary and Artistic Works, in its various versions still applicable, last revised in Paris in 1979 (Berne Convention); (b) the Universal Copyright Convention (UCC); (c) the Geneva Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthor - ized Duplication of their Phonograms (Geneva Phonograms Convention); (d) the Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations; (e) the Brussels Convention Relating to the Distri - bution of Programme-Carrying Signals Trans - mitted by Satellite (Brussels Satellite Conven - tion); (f) the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS); (g) the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT); (h) the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT); (i) the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances; and (j) the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled. • Trade marks: (a) the Madrid Agreement for the Repression of False or Deceptive Indications of Source on Goods; (b) the Madrid Agreement Concerning the Inter - national Registration of Marks and the Madrid Protocol; (c) the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS);
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