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IV. Priority and Exhibition Immunity

Art. 26

(1) The priority declaration shall contain the following particulars:

(a) the date of the initial deposit;
(b) the country in which or for which the deposit has been made.

(2) In those cases where the initial deposit and the application for protection filed in Switzerland are not identical, the Institute may require the depositor to provide the number of the initial deposit together with particulars enabling it to establish which articles included in the application for protection are concerned.

(3) The priority declaration shall be produced at the time of the deposit in Switzerland.

(4) Where the Institute determines the existence of irregularities, it shall address to the depositor a notification inviting him to remedy those irregularities within a period of one month. At the request of the depositor, the Institute shall extend the time limit up to the end of the third month as from the filing of the application for protection, at the most. If the time limit is not complied with, the priority right shall lapse.

Art. 27

(1) Where the Institute so requires under Article 14c(1) of the Law, the priority document shall contain:

(a) a copy of the initial deposit certified as conform with the original by the authority with which the first deposit was made;
(b) an attestation from that authority concerning the date of the initial deposit.

(2) The priority document shall be drawn up in an official Swiss language or in English or be accompanied by a translation into one of those languages.

(3) Where it is required by the Institute, the priority document shall be produced within a period of one month. At the request of the depositor, the Institute shall extend the time limit up to the end of the third month as from the filing of the application for protection, at the most. If the time limit is not complied with, the priority right shall lapse.

Art. 28

If it appears from the priority document that the deposit on which the claim to priority is based only constitutes in part an initial deposit within the meaning of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of March 20, 1883, the Institute may require the submission of documents of earlier deposits as required to determine the facts.

Art. 28bis

Where two or more designs have been a separate subject matter of applications for deposit and are grouped within a single deposit for Switzerland, a priority declaration may be submitted for each deposit under the conditions laid down in Article 14a of the Law.

Art. 28ter

If an application for deposit of designs is divided into more than one application, a priority declaration shall be submitted, at the time of division, for each of the applications.

Art. 28quater

(1) The declaration concerning immunity derived from an exhibition (Article 14e(b) of the Law) shall contain the following particulars:

(a) the exact title of the exhibition;
(b) the opening day of the exhibition or the day on which the design was first disclosed at the exhibition if that day is not the same as the opening day.

(2) It shall be submitted at the time of deposit, failing which the immunity derived from the exhibition shall lapse.

Art. 28quinquies

(1) Where the Institute requires the documents relating to immunity derived from an exhibition under Article 14e(b) of the Law, they shall be submitted within a period of one month as from the date of the request made by the Institute. At the request of the depositor, the Institute shall extend the time limit up to the end of the third month as from the filing of the application for protection, at the most. If the time limit is not complied with, the immunity shall lapse.

(2) The documents shall have been issued by the authority responsible for the exhibition and shall contain the following particulars:

(a) an attestation that the design has actually been exhibited;
(b) the opening day of the exhibition;
(c) the day of first disclosure of the design where it is not the same as the opening day;
(d) a document, authenticated by the above mentioned authority, enabling the design to be identified.

(3) The documents shall be drawn up in an official Swiss language or in English or shall be accompanied by a translation into one of those languages.

Art. 28sexies

National exhibitions and, amongst the other exhibitions held by professional associations or held with their assistance, those in which the Confederation, a Canton, a cantonal district or a parish participate by granting a subsidy or in any other manner, shall be considered official or officially recognized exhibitions on Swiss territory. No distinction shall be made between exhibitions of an exclusively industrial nature and those of a partly industrial nature.

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