Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie

Application for action by costums authorities

Civil and criminal procedures

When a search, police investigation or detention under customs has established that an intellectual property right has been infringed, the holder can take action as follows :

Civil law procedure

Civil law provides for protection against the current, imminent or future infringement of rights, and compensation for illegal acts. It also seeks to prevent an economic agent from laying undue claim to an exclusive right, and to avoid that any such arrogation should impede the veritable right holder's freedom to pursue its business

Criminal law procedure

The laws governing intangible assets also allow for criminal prosecution. The fifth and final section of Part III of the TRIPS agreement on the enforcement of intellectual property rights concerns criminal procedures. Pursuant to article 61, WTO Members shall provide for criminal procedures and penalties to be applied at least in cases of wilful trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy on a commercial scale. Members may also provide for criminal procedures and penalties to be applied in other cases of infringement of intellectual property rights, in particular where they are committed wilfully and on a commercial scale. Remedies shall include imprisonment and/or monetary fines sufficient to provide a deterrent, consistently with the level of penalties applied for crimes of a corresponding gravity. In appropriate cases, remedies shall also include the seizure, forfeiture and destruction of the infringing goods, and of any materials and implements which have been used to produce them.

In Switzerland, criminal sanctions apply only to wilful infringement. Consequently, anyone who deliberately violates a third party's intellectual property right risks up to one year's imprisonment or a fine, or up to three years' imprisonment and a fine of up to CHF 100,000 when the offence is committed for gain.