Brands: 6 misconceptions of many entrepreneurs
Specialists in trademark law are sometimes struck by the preconceived ideas surrounding trademarks. Here is an anthology that will help to dispel some of the misconceptions: Wrong: In order to own a trademark in Switzerland, you must have registered it with the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property. If you do not have such a […]
Fight against piracy – what’s new ?
A. Genesis of the revision On April 1, 2020, the revised Federal Act on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights (SCA) came into force. Initiated in 2012, the revision took almost eight years to complete. A first report, published in 2013 by the AGUR 12 working group, was published at the end of 2015. Faced with the […]
Schrems II: Is the transfer of personal data to the USA still allowed?
In a long awaited decision (C-311/18), delivered on 16 July 2020 and already widely publicised, the Court of Justice of the European Union had to rule on the validity of the standard contractual clauses for the transfer of personal data to processors established in third countries (Decision 2010/87, as amended by Decision 2016/2297, more commonly […]
Wilhelm Gilliéron Attorneys-at-Law Corp. : announcement
We are pleased to announce the partnership of Philippe Gilliéron in our firm as of July 1, 2020. Philippe Gilliéron is a recognized specialist in intellectual property law, data protection and new technologies and teaches these branches at the Universities of Lausanne and Fribourg as an Associate Professor. Philippe Gilliéron will be in charge of […]
Choosing a trademark: how to choose well?
What is a trademark? Many entrepreneurs still believe that any distinctive sign they use in business life should be understood as a “trademark”. However, this is not the case, and not every sign you use in business life is a “trademark” in the legal sense. The legal framework makes a distinction between the corporate name, […]
IT contracts and companies: 10 pitfalls to avoid
Reviewing terms and conditions when one acquires a software or SaaS application is not a pleasant experience. In fact, the entrepreneur often tends to think that IT is a supporting function, and that the review of those terms and conditions is an unnecessary waste of time. However, these conditions are likely to have many pitfalls […]
Is an open space office layout compliant with GDPR and LPD?
For several years now, there has been a tendency to adopt open space offices, in other words a workspace in which the offices are not separated by partitions. The idea is to make communication within the company more fluid while at the same time bringing staff closer together. Is a layout of that kind in […]
Implementation of the GDPR: initial findings and penalties running to thousands of euros!
The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force on 25 May 2018. As we explained previously here, this Regulation may also apply to Swiss companies. Businesses concerned, both European and Swiss, were required to take various measures by 25 May last. These included, for instance, appointing a data protection officer (DPO), adding a […]
The law firm Wilhelm Avocats appears on the website of the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property as trade mark consultant.
The Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property has its headquarters in Bern. It is the federal agency for matters concerning intellectual property in Switzerland. It offers on its website a list of trade mark consultants practicing in Switzerland, on which appears our law firm Wilhelm Avocats. Our law firm is indeed able to assist you […]
The scammers failed to get us
We had recently a run-in with scammers and we consider us as lucky not to have been trapped. Although we scrutinize our emails very closely and we have an important experience in recognizing spams, we recently received a message form a certain “English Company” asking for our legal assistance in collecting the balance due on […]