Protect your corporate identity

Fri, 17.09.2021, 10:00

The IFJ is proud to announce a new partnership for the support of our entrepreneurs. They can now protect their corporate identity in collaboration with Legal Marque SA.

Intellectual property (IP) is a set of exclusive rights granted to the creator or owner of an intangible asset for a certain period. This can be literary and artistic works, inventions, industrial designs or computer programs. This may also include service marks (trademarks), geographical indications and designations of origin.



A trademark is a mark or sign which distinguishes a good or service of one undertaking from those of other undertaking. Therefore, the aim is to protect the exclusive right to use that mark so that it cannot be used by others without permission. The proprietor of the trademark has certain rights and under Swiss law there are two categories of trademarks: conventional trademarks (word marks, figurative marks and three-dimensional marks) and collective trademarks (indications that qualify the characteristics of the members of a group of products or services).

An application for trademark registration may be filed by an individual or a legal entity within three months after the first use of a mark in Switzerland. National law does not allow for any priority claims, i.e. protection for a trademark cannot be claimed on the basis of earlier rights acquired in another country.

The scope of protection covers the whole of Switzerland, including Liechtenstein. However, an application for registration filed with UNIPO or OHIM may also cover other contracting states which are parties to the Madrid Agreement or to the Lisbon Protocol.

A trademark is distinctive if it allows consumers to distinguish the goods and services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings. In order to register a trademark with distinctive character, the applicant must show that a significant part of the Swiss population is familiar with the trademark and recognizes it as an indication of the origin of goods or services.

In Switzerland trademarks (word marks, figurative marks and three-dimensional marks) are not able to be registered if they are purely descriptive (indicating qualities which are inherent in the goods), generic (indicating the kind of product, e.g. word "milk" for milk), or descriptive contrary to public policy (e.g. words describing a natural phenomenon), or if they are contrary to public policy in general or if there is unfair competition.

The registration procedure is simplified for trademarks which are identical with or similar to a mark which has already been registered in Switzerland or to an earlier mark in respect of the same or related goods or services.  Products and services are considered original if they meet two criteria: they must be new and of such a quality that they distinguish the product from those offered by other undertakings. The owner of the registered trademark is protected against any unauthorized use of the trademark when using it in relation to products or services which are identical with such registered trademark.

Copyright is a right relating to intellectual creations, including literary works, software and visual works such as drawings. The owner of copyright has certain rights: to reproduce (copy), to distribute, to communicate to the public (show), to adapt and/or modify the work as well as in certain cases the right to make available the work.

Companies and individuals that invest in creating an original copyrightable work may apply for a patent. A patent is a property right granted by law that protects new and useful inventions. In order for a creation to be eligible for registration as a patent, it must be an invention, i.e. it must not be known by others prior to its conception or use by its inventor. For such creations or inventions the same protection is afforded as for trademarks, i.e.

The applicant may apply for registration of copyright in Switzerland if the work is created by an employee of the applicant or a third party and published either simultaneously with its creation or not later than three months after the creation. National law does not allow for any priority claims, i.e. protection for copyright cannot be claimed on the basis of earlier rights acquired in other countries.

The trade association may use the logo of the association, which is a graphic symbol that indicates membership, or on letterhead and/or envelopes at no charge. It may also use the logo on its official publications. The logo may not be used for commercial purposes or in such a way that creates confusion with the trade association, provided that the association is able to prove that it has been adopted by its members in good faith.

The trade association may register its trademark in Switzerland or (if such a trademark is not already registered in Switzerland) in another country through the World Intellectual Property Organisation or through a national authority (if the country participates in an international treaty for the protection of trademarks).

Legal Marque SA now offers its services in collaboration with IFJ for you to deposit your product designs (new concept of watch, chair, new design of clothing or bag, etc.) in its safe in order to constitute and preserve the evidence of your creations in the form of digitally signed documents with timestamp. For more information, please don't hesitate to contact them using the form on www.ifj.ch/intellectual-property