Once you’ve filed your design, applied for a patent for your invention, or registered your trade mark, you do not need to keep anything secret. Get the word out about your product and advertise!

Advertising flyers can be protected by copyright if they have an individual character. Protection arises automatically with the creation of the work; registration is not required.

Do you want to use your trade mark on the internet? This is a special case in legal terms. Trade mark protection is territorial: that means that a trade mark is only protected in the countries or regions for which it is registered. In contrast, the world wide web is not territorial. Conflicts can arise on the internet between similar or identical trade marks registered for protection in different countries. There have been few cases on this and the case law varies from country to country.
 

Tipp

• Is someone else creating your advertising? We recommend that you draw up a written agreement regarding ownership of the copyright and how they will be compensated from the very beginning.

Caution

• Pictures and names of other people may not be used for advertising without their permission. This is set down in the provisions regarding personality rights in the Swiss Civil Code.