Mandate
In a motion submitted to the Federal Council in 2012, the Federal Council was requested to better defend and manage the military brands. This motion was triggered by the fact that various companies use the brands without surrendering any licence fees to the Swiss Confederation. Since 2014, armasuisse has been instructed, according to directives on brand policy from the DDPS Department, to ensure brand protection and the registration of military brands at home and abroad.
In 2013, the Federal Council was instructed by Parliament to better protect and defend the military brands, in particular the «Swiss Army», «Swiss Military» and «Swiss Air Force» brands, and to commercialise them by means of licence agreements. The background to the parliamentary mandate was the unauthorised use of trademarks by third-party companies in Switzerland and abroad since the end of the 1980s. The trade mark protection system drawn up by Victorinox AG in collaboration with the Swiss Confederation essentially only applied to the «Swiss Army» trade mark. A nder military trademarks in Switzerland and abroad were not covered , which favoured the emergence of free riders and prompted parliament to take action.
To the motion
Based on the parliamentary mandate from 2013, the development of the adjudication on the military brands as official signs and a potential analysis, armasuisse subjected the military brand strategy to a cross-department review in 2021.
Accordingly, armasuisse remains responsible for the protection, defence and commercialisation of the military brands and works on implementation together with the partners involved, including the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI).