The Swiss Federal Constitution states that the freedom of art is guaranteed. However, this does not mean that it operates in a legal vacuum, even if it may often feel that way. Artists and fashion companies, for example, must observe intellectual property, competition law, cultural property and data protection laws. Those who are unfamiliar with these issues can often find themselves on thin ice.
Registering a trademark or design is a basic requirement for protecting your intellectual property. Many mistakes can be made in the very formal application procedures. We find the right strategies, take care of the applications and accompany you through the rest of the process.
We have decades of experience in the defence of intellectual property rights. We enforce claims for our clients in the event of infringement of trade mark and other intellectual property rights.
Many agreements in the creative industry are made more informally than in other business areas. We help to regulate contractual relationships in a clear and legally compliant manner – from the model release to the general terms and conditions.
If you want to commercialise intellectual property rights, there is no getting around cooperation with third parties. We advise and support you when IP rights are to be transferred or licenced. We look for the best utilisation options for you.
Artists and fashion designers have to observe extensive compliance regulations, from textile labelling and supply chain tracking to money laundering. We help you keep an overview.
If you are not taking care of your trade marks, you are weakening yourself. The registration of similar or identical trade marks by third parties dilutes your own trade mark rights. Regular monitoring of the registers counteracts this. In most cases, collisions can be easily avoided. We offer monitoring services.
Founding a company without first searching for relevant prior rights of third parties can have unpleasant consequences. There is a risk of losing all your investment in brand development. We search for prior rights and carry out risk analyses – even before registration.
Artists must respect the personal rights of others. This includes the right to one’s own image and the FADP. Data protection regulations must also be observed when processing contracts.
We prepare legal opinions on all issues relating to intellectual property, competition law, distribution law and examine business concepts for feasibility.
In a four-part series on penso.ch, the trade magazine for HR, social insurance, and employee benefits, Olivia Boccali explains how companies can implement AI-powered people analytics throughout the entire employee journey—from recruitment through development and performance to offboarding—in a way that is both legally compliant and practical.
Cyberattacks are no longer merely a technical issue – they are a communication issue. Anyone who communicates incorrectly or too late during a crisis risks fines, liability and reputational damage. Our event, ‘Cyber Law and Communication’, brings together legal experts, technologists and PR professionals to demonstrate how companies can position themselves in a legally sound and professionally communicative manner – in Germany, the EU and Switzerland.
The topic of episode 41 of the Data Navigator podcast is the perspective of a start-up whose business model is directly based on the Data Act. Our guest is Philip Schütz, founder of Data Revolution and also a data protection expert at Mercedes-Benz. Philip brings an unusual combination of skills to the table: as a political scientist, he provided academic support for the legislative process of the GDPR at Fraunhofer and subsequently worked in data protection within companies. The idea to found Data Revolution arose from his academic engagement with the Data Act as part of a commentary project on EU digital legislation. We learn exactly what Data Revolution does: the tech start-up acts as an intermediary between data owners and data users, processing the raw data required to be disclosed under the Data Act and making it usable for data users – from analysis and visualisation to integration into existing business processes. In addition, the start-up offers SMEs support with Data Act compliance from the data owner’s perspective. A key focus of the episode is on practical experiences from the agritech and vehicle data sectors. Philip reports first-hand: at one tractor manufacturer, 750 data types could be accessed as CSV downloads – but real-time access via an API was refused on the grounds of a lack of infrastructure. Another major manufacturer does provide an API, but only supplies five data types. In the vehicle data sector, meanwhile, real-time access costs between 20 and 30 euros per vehicle per month – a sum that can nip innovative business models in the bud. We discuss in detail why the Data Act has not yet taken hold in the market: many companies perceive it more as a regulatory brake than as an enabler. Even in the start-up scene, hardly anyone is familiar with the Data Act. Philip also describes how his team deals with issues such as confidentiality and the protection of trade secrets – particularly in a B2B context, customers expect their data to remain under their control. In conclusion, Philip sets out clear demands: the Federal Network Agency, as the future supervisory authority, must consistently pursue cases of non-compliance.
The increasing interconnectivity of global supply chains brings with it enormous opportunities, but also growing risks. At our joint event with Kevla, we will discuss how securing the supply chain is becoming a key factor for success.
An electrical appliance retailer commissions Google to independently promote its products. In its judgment of 11 March 2026 – I ZR 28/25, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) had to decide whether the electrical appliance manufacturer was liable for Google’s failure to correctly label energy efficiency classes, and ruled in the affirmative. In doing so, the court clearly highlighted the differences from its ‘Liability for Affiliates’ decision.
In episode 53, we tackle three new topics and bring you an update from the Netherlands: What does the ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the case of Vladimir Heraskewytsch mean? We put the CAS decision into context, discuss the background to the case, and explore what kind of signal it might send to athletes and how political expression is handled in sport. We also examine whether women’s football in Germany is on the brink of structural upheaval. We look at the latest developments surrounding a possible split between the Women’s Bundesliga (FBL) and the DFB, analysing the opportunities and risks. The third topic is the racist incidents targeting Vinícius Jr., which expose a structural problem in European football. We discuss reactions and accountability. Finally, we take a look at the Netherlands and explain why the planned Justice for Players class action lawsuit is currently stalled.
In this special episode of the PinG podcast “Follow the Rule of Law”, Prof. Niko Härting and Dr Marco Buschmann discuss current issues relating to criminal and media law in the digital sphere. The focus is on the draft bill on the criminalisation of pornographic deepfakes, the limits of measures that increase the severity of penalties within the criminal justice system, and the protection of politically active individuals against defamation. The episode thus sheds light on key issues at the intersection of digital communication, the protection of personal rights and state regulation.
In this episode of the PinG podcast “Follow the Rule of Law”, Carl Nowak talks to Prof. Volker Römermann about the use of AI tools in law firms, the professional boundaries of language models, and the impact of artificial intelligence on legal education and scholarship. The discussion takes its starting point from a presentation given at the DAV AI Forum. The focus is therefore on key questions regarding the practical application of AI in the legal market and the legal framework governing legal practice.
The IPI has clarified its approach to Swissness legislation and has made it clear that, under strict conditions, the Swiss cross may now also be used on products manufactured abroad.
Artificial intelligence promises efficiency and innovation, but it can also distort competition. The Competition Commission makes it clear that algorithmic pricing and data-driven market power will be scrutinised more closely in future.
