Precious Metals Control Ordinance (PMCO)
Amended by No I of the O of 17 Feb. 1993, in force since 1 April 1993 (AS 1993 984).
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
Responsibility
Art. 58
1 In applying the responsibility mark or having such a mark applied, the owner of the mark becomes responsible for the correctness of the marks on the objects. 2 The assayer/melter’s mark provided for in Article 30 is permitted as a responsibility mark. 3 The Assay Offices may apply their mark, as per No. 2 of the Annex, to articles instead of a responsibility mark if: a. the articles were made by private individuals who do not have their own responsibility marks; b. the articles do not have any responsibility marks, are destined for sale by public auction, and have been submitted by official institutions such as pawn brokers, lost property offices or debt collection offices. 4 These marks may also be used for the correction of contested articles in the supervision of the domestic market.
Art. 58 — Amended by No I of the O of 19 June 1995, in force since 1 Aug. 1995 (AS 1995 3113).
Distinctiveness
Art. 59
1 The mark must differ from other responsibility marks already registered: a. in the combination of letters or digits; b. in the type or form of lettering; c. by adding, removing or modifying the surrounding shapes; d. in the graphical representation. 2 The difference must be detectable at a magnification of 2.5X.
Collective responsibility mark
Art. 60
1 For watch-cases, several manufacturers may use a collective responsibility mark. 2 They must set out the use of the collective responsibility mark in a regulatory document. 3 The regulatory document must be approved by the Central Office.
Form of the collective responsibility mark
Art. 61
1 The collective responsibility mark shall consist of a specific identifying symbol. 2 Each manufacturer shall use a personal control number. 3 In the mark itself, the symbol must surround the number.
Origin of the right to the mark
Art. 62
The right to the mark originates on entry in the register.
Priority
Art. 63
The right to the mark belongs to the person who was first to submit the reproduction of the responsibility mark to the Central Office.
Grounds for rejection
Art. 64
The following may not be registered as responsibility marks: a. symbols that do not meet the requirements set out in the Act or in the Ordinance; b. symbols that do not sufficiently differ from other symbols already registered; c. symbols that are in the public domain; d. symbols that offend against public order, common decency, federal law or state treaties; e. misleading symbols; f. official Swiss, foreign or international assay marks or hallmarks.
Application for registration
Art. 65
1 To apply for registration of a mark, the following documents must be submitted to the Central Office: a. the registration application; b. a reproduction of the mark. 2 For the application, the official forms for this purpose must be used.
Registration application
Art. 66
1 The registration application for individual marks shall comprise: a. the applicant’s first and last names or company name; b. the place of registration and residence; c. the type of business; d. the date and the signature of the applicant or a representative. 2 The registration application for collective responsibility marks shall comprise: a. the regulatory document; b. the list of the individual manufacturers with the first and last names or company name, personal control number and place of registration and residence; c. the date and the signature of the applicant or a representative. 3 The registration application must be accompanied by: a. a extract from the commercial register less than one year old or, if the applicant is not entered in the commercial register, a proof of residence certificate less than one year old; b. a power of attorney if the applicant is represented by another party.
Reproduction of the mark
Art. 67
The registration application must be accompanied by: a. 10 black and white reproducible images of the mark, whereby the length of the mark image in each direction must be no less than 15 mm and no more than 30 mm; b. a small metal sheet with several imprints of the mark.
Examination of the application
Art. 68
1 The Central Office shall check to ensure that the application meets the requirements for registration. 2 If there is an error in the application, the Central Office shall grant a deadline for rectification of the fault. 3 If the error is not rectified by the given deadline, the Central Office shall either issue a further deadline or reject the application.
Registration
Art. 69
1 The Central Office shall enter the responsibility mark into the register if: a. there are no grounds for objection; b. the documents submitted are complete and correct; c. the registration fee has been paid. 2 The Central Office shall issues the owner of the mark with a registration certificate. This serves as a certificate to use the responsibility mark.
Extension of registration
Art. 70
1 The registration period may be extended for a further 20 years in return for payment of a fee before expiry of the current period of validity. 2 The Central Office shall send the owner of the mark or his representative a written reminder in advance that the period of validity is about to expire.
Obligation to notify and automatic instigation of
Art. 71
1 The owner of the mark must notify the Central Office of any changes concerning entries in the register. 2 If the Central Office learns that a change has not been reported, it shall set the owner of the mark a deadline for reporting the change. If the deadline passes without a result, the Central Office shall conduct the necessary investigations ex officio.
Modifications and deletions
Art. 72
1 The Central Office shall enter modifications and delete entries in the register. 2 The Central Office shall grant the owner of the mark an opportunity to make a formal statement before modifying entries in the register on the basis of investigations automatically instigated. 3 Changes made to the register are subject to a fee.
Register of responsibility marks
Art. 73
1 The Central Office maintains a register of the responsibility marks. 2 This register shall contain the following information: a. the owner’s first and last names or company name as well as their place of registration and residence; b. the type of business; c. the control number; d. the reproduction of the mark; e. the submission date; f. the registration date; g. modifications and deletions. 3 The register of responsibility marks shall be open to the public. 4 The Assay Offices shall keep a copy of the register.
Archiving of files
Art. 74
1 The Central Office shall maintain a dossier with all documents concerning the marks. 2 It keeps the files from applications for a period of five years following deletion of the entry. 3 It keeps the files from applications not resulting in registration for a period of five years.
Publication
Art. 75
1 Notice shall be given of each registered responsibility mark in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce. 2 The notice shall include the control number, a reproduction of the mark, the owner’s details and the date of registration. 3 In the case of collective responsibility marks, the numbers of the individual participants shall also be published. 4 Modifications and deletions shall also be published.
Art. 76–80
Repealed
