SWITZERLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Peter Schramm, Timmy Pielmeier, Michael Ritscher and Andrea Schäffler, MLL Legal
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 statutory law. • Trade marks are protected by the Federal Act on the Protection of Trade Marks and Indica - tions 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 Federal Act on Copyright and Related Rights (“Swiss Copyright Act”). Common law trade marks (in terms of trade mark protection that is acquired without regis - tration 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 protection 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 concern - ing intellectual property law, including the fol - lowing. • Copyright:
(a) the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, in its vari - ous versions still applicable, last revised in Paris in 1979 (Berne Convention); (b) the Universal Copyright Convention (UCC); (c) the Geneva Convention for the Protec - tion of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication of their Phono - grams (Geneva Phonogram Convention); (d) the Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations; (e) the Brussels Convention Relating to the Distribution of Programme-Carrying Signals Transmitted by Satellite (Brussels Satellite Convention); (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 Perfor - mances; 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 Repres - sion of False or Deceptive Indications of Source on Goods; (a) the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks and the Madrid Protocol; (b) the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS); (c) the Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registra - tion of Marks; (d) the Paris Convention for the Protection of
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