For owners of German trademarks who use their trademark only in Switzerland, caution is now advised! Germany has terminated an agreement of 1892, according to which owners of German trademarks could rely on a use in Switzerland for genuine use of their trademarks.
Background of this termination were decisions of the CFI respectively the ECJ, according to which this agreement could not apply to the use of EU trademarks or was even incompatible with EU law and Germany had to terminate this agreement.
Owners of German trademarks should therefore make sure that they can prove the use of their trademarks in Germany. If such evidence cannot be provided, proceedings based on these trademarks will be lost on the grounds of lack of use alone. Even worse, the trademarks concerned may even be cancelled due to revocation.
