Earlier right

Illustrative example; names are placeholders and the facts are invented. Company A has held the Swiss mark MARK A for cosmetics for three years. The IPI registers MARK B for skincare, filed by an unrelated business, and publishes it. Company A has three months from publication to oppose, and the fee is due within the same time (MSchG Art. 31(2)). Nobody else can raise MARK A against MARK B (MSchG Art. 3(3)). If the three months pass, the earlier mark still stands, and the question moves to the courts, where a mark that infringes an earlier right can be partly or fully cancelled.

What counts. An earlier mark is a filed or registered mark with an earlier right of priority, or a mark well known in Switzerland when the other sign was filed. (MSchG Art. 3(2))

Use alone. A trademark right belongs to whoever files first, so earlier use alone gives no trademark right against a later filing. The holder cannot, however, stop someone from continuing to use a sign to the same extent as before the filing. (MSchG Arts. 6 and 14(1))

Who can raise it. An earlier mark can only be raised by its own holder, by opposition or in court. (MSchG Art. 3(3), Art. 31)

Until it is cancelled. A registered mark stays an earlier right until it is cancelled, whether the company kept it or sold it. (MSchG Art. 35)

Not checked at filing. The IPI registers a mark without examining whether it infringes older trademarks, company names or domain names, and asks applicants to search themselves or have someone do it. (IPI, Risk of conflict)