How is the actual origin of a product or service determined?
According to Article 48 of the Trademark Law, the origin of a good is determined by the place of its manufacture or by the origin of the raw materials and parts used for the end product. This means that for every indication of Swiss origin, the value of the Swiss portion of the production costs must be a minimum of 50% and the essential portions of the manufacturing process must have taken place in Switzerland. More information about this can be found here (pdf 290 KB). For certain products (such as watches, cheese, agricultural AOC or PGI products), additional conditions which are defined in special provisions must be met. The origin of services is determined either by the headquarters of the person providing the service or by the citizenship or the domicile of the persons actually controlling the policies and management of the business. See also question 15 under “Swissness”.
