(Bloomberg) — Laws prescribing that only products made in Switzerland can be marketed using Swiss images bring some 1.4 billion francs ($1.6 billion) per year to the country’s companies, a government-sponsored study found.
The so-called “Swissness Act” was introduced in 2017 and stipulates certain thresholds to allow the use of the iconic Swiss cross or Swiss landmarks. Toblerone is a case in point, forcing Mondelez International Inc. to drop a picture of the Matterhorn mountain from the chocolate’s packaging when it moved production to Slovakia.
The laws give companies producing domestically a “legitimate competitive advantage,” the government said on Wednesday.
It added that the Swiss Institute for Intellectual Property has founded a “Swissness Enforcement” association with businesses. So far, the group coordinated 150 interventions against infringements on the Swiss brand in countries like China, India or Brazil, according to a statement.
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