swiss flag

CH

Why you should register your brand as a trademarks

Your brands are your capital, protect your capital from being accessed by third parties.

The value of a business is in the products and services. Protect it and register them as a brand.

Your money is in the reputation of your products and services. These are directly linked to their designation or your name or company name.

Your existence is based on the good name of your products and services. With a trademark registered at the official Trademark Office (IGE. IPI Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property), you can exclude others from using the trademark and use this trademark alone.

Read more

Would you buy a No-Name watch for CHF 5,000? Probably not. The excellent brand name of Rolex (brand value 8.0 billion) also allows buyers to spend more on a watch. Without the brand name, the watches would not be for sale at that price. (Source: bestswiss.ch)

The loss of a brand name or logo can mean a loss of thousands or millions of francs or euros, depending on the business.

Register a name as a trademark and thus protect it from abuse (idea protect your brand)

Protect your brand and thus your source of income from being used by competitors. Without a trademark registration you are putting your business at risk.

A trademark registration is often more important than a liability or car insurance and realizing it for little money.

trademark protection picture
~

How to protect your brand from infringement

Act as soon as possible. Older trademark applications have older rights than newer trademarks, the sooner you apply for your trademark, the older rights you have.

Register name as trademark and protect it from misuse

Protect your brand and your source of income from being used by competitors. Without a trademark registration you are putting your business at risk.

Register your Brand Now

Determine exactly which wordmarks or logos you want to protect. Different product and service areas should be given to different brands. Set geographic trademark protection. Protect current and planned areas of operation in Switzerland, the EU, Liechtenstein, and the UK. Use our online process and we will take care of all the work, including a report and the necessary research.

Register a Brand in Switzerland for only 399 CHF*

* This price includes the most important checks. A comprehensive report on older rights is included (see Example Report ).
We register your brand at the official IGE (Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property). The IGE registration cost of 550 CHF is not included in the price.

Steps to Trademark Registration

h

Get Report

Get the trademark registration report

Final Talk

Have a final consulting talk about the registration

Trademark Application

We submit your application to the official IPO office

Advantage of Trademark Registration

Don’t waste time and protect your products and services by registering as a trademark. Trademarks registered first have priority over the earlier rights.

A registered trademark is the basis for:

  • Prohibition of third party use of the trademark
  • Protection and value enhancement for products and services
  • Stop the import of counterfeit products with the help of customs and police
  • The protection of the brand on Amazon, Google, Youtube, Facebook and others
  • This leads to the ® symbol to display the entry
  • Increasing value when selling products or services with a brand
  • Increases the company value when activated in the balance sheet

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a registered trademark affect the sale of the products or services?
A registered trademark is often the prerequisite for selling a product or service. Individual products or services can usually only be extracted from a company via a registered trademark and assessed or sold separately.

When selling a brand and product, depending on the individual case, hundreds of thousands more can be earned than a product without the trademark rights. A registered trademark can significantly increase the company’s value (see accounting below).

How does the trademark registration affect the competitive situation?
You can show the registration or protection of the brand with the ® symbol, which may only be used for registered brands. As a result, competitors know about your trademark rights and will exercise appropriate caution when mentioning your trademark.

Depending on the product, you can apply to customs to confiscate the import of products in the event of improper use or forbid Google competitors to use your brand in a Google advertisement, register the brand with Amazon and list counterfeits, prohibit competitors from using and much more. This will improve your competitive position.

What can happen if someone else protects "my" brand?
It is possible that you will then no longer be able to use the trademark. There are many examples for this. The cost of losing a brand can be high and it is not just about changing shop signs, stationery and promotional material, but also about losing customers, trust and Google or Amazon keywords.
When is it too late to protect a trademark?
If the trademarks you use are registered by a competitor or third party, it may be too late to be able to protect the trademark. Whoever applies for a trademark first usually has the earlier rights and can prohibit others from using the trademarks. An exception is the “malicious trademark application”, which is difficult to prove, especially if the applicant actively uses the trademark for his own purposes.
How does a brand affect my bottom line?
Internationally and in Switzerland, intangible assets (brands) or the expenses incurred in their creation may be capitalized in the balance sheet under certain circumstances. In Germany, it is normally not possible to include a self-created brand on the balance sheet.

According to IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) IAS 38 13ff and 51ff, the acquisition or production costs of brands can be capitalized from the time the following criteria are met: identifiability and separability. Future economic benefits, measurability of expenses, etc.

In Switzerland according to OR (Code of Obligations) 665 or Swiss GAAP FER 10 (analogous to IFRS), both paid and internally generated intangible assets are capitalized in the balance sheet.

In Germany according to HGB §248 2 or §255 2 and 2a only self-created intangible assets may be capitalized. Self-created brands may not be activated.
According to US GAAP, internally generated intangible goods are not included in the balance sheet.

But according to IAS 38, only those who have the power to control the future use of an asset and to protect it from access by third parties may record the asset in the balance sheet. As long as everyone is allowed to use an unprotected trademark, no benefit can be drawn from it and this is not included in the balance sheet. This makes it necessary to register a trademark.

Ask your tax advisor, trustee or auditor about the details of accounting for your brand.

How long is a trademark registration valid?
A trademark registration with the trademark office is usually valid for 10 years. You only have to pay the next official fees after 10 years.

Schedule a phone call

SAMT ® Aktiengesellschaft Schweiz