Commentaries: Art. 50b

The Federal Council shall establish a register for geographical indications for goods, which excludes agricultural products, processed agricultural products and wine, as well as forestry products and processed forestry products.
It regulates in particular:
1. entitlement to apply for registration;
2. requirements for registration, in particular the requirements for the product specification;
3. the procedure for registration and objection;
4. control procedures.
Decisions and services in connection with the register are subject to fees.
Registered geographical indications may not become generic names. Generic names cannot be registered as geographical indications.
Any person who uses a registered geographical indication for identical or comparable goods must comply with the product specifications. This obligation does not apply to the use of trade marks that are identical or similar to a registered geographical indication and which were filed or registered in good faith, or that have been acquired through use in good faith:
1. prior to 1 January 1996; or
2. prior to the name of the registered geographical indication being protected in the country of origin, insofar as none of the grounds for nullity or revocation set out in this Act apply to the trade mark concerned.
Where a trade mark containing a geographical indication, identical or similar to a geographical indication for which registration has been applied, is filed for identical or comparable goods, the trade mark examination procedure shall be suspended until the final decision on the application for registration of the geographical indication.
Following registration of the geographical indication, the trade mark may only be registered for identical or comparable goods. The goods must be restricted to the geographical origin described in the product specifications.
Registered geographical indications are protected in particular against:
1. any commercial use for other products, whereby the reputation of the protected denomination is exploited;
2. any act of appropriation, counterfeiting or imitation.