The short answer
A Swiss opposition challenges a trademark that has already been registered and published. It differs from an IPI objection during examination of an application. Preserve the complete notice, record the deadline stated in it and have the asserted earlier rights and the affected goods and services reviewed.
Identify the sender and the procedure
An examination objection concerns the office’s assessment of your application. In an opposition, another trademark owner relies on earlier rights. The IPI describes a three-month period after publication for filing opposition. That deadline for the opponent is not automatically your deadline for submitting observations in response.
Read the actual procedural order and its service details. Keep the envelope or message, attachments and complete opposition submission. A letter from the other party’s lawyer may separately constitute an out-of-court demand. Treating every letter as the same procedural stage can cause you to overlook different requirements and dates.
Sources: IPI: opposition to a published trademark · IPI: risk of conflict with earlier trademarks
Compare the challenged offers and signs
Collect your registration and the earlier rights identified in the opposition. The relevant comparison is not limited to the name: it also concerns the claimed goods and services, versions of the signs and relevant dates. Identify whether the challenge covers the entire specification or only particular products or services.
Gather previous searches, correspondence and any agreements. Have the arguments relevant to this procedure assessed. A possible non-use defence requires its applicable conditions to be met. Merely suspecting that the other business makes few sales does not replace that assessment or provide a properly supported response to the opposition.
Sources: IPI: 2026 Trademark Guidelines, opposition proceedings
Coordinate the response and the business decision
With professional help, determine the response required and the documents supporting it. Any settlement discussions should be coordinated with the pending proceedings. Negotiations do not by themselves establish that an official deadline is suspended. Check each deadline against the actual order and obtain advice before assuming more time is available.
Also evaluate commercial options: the challenged specification, a coexistence arrangement or possibly a different brand. Which option works depends on the dispute. Another application does not automatically eliminate the opposition. Equally, losing an opposition and determining whether actual commercial use is permissible are not simply the same legal question.
Sources: IPI: 2026 Trademark Guidelines, opposition proceedings · IPI: opposition to a published trademark
What you can do now
- Record the procedure, service details and actual response deadline.
- Collect both register entries and the affected goods and services.
- Coordinate the response and possible settlement promptly with professional support.
Frequently asked questions
Do I also have three months to answer?
That does not follow from the deadline for filing opposition. Your response is governed by the actual procedural order. Have it reviewed promptly instead of assuming a general period.
Sources: IPI: opposition to a published trademark · IPI: 2026 Trademark Guidelines, opposition proceedings
Does an opposition mean I have already lost?
No. It starts proceedings in which the asserted grounds are considered. However, application or registration alone does not guarantee success against earlier rights either.
Sources: IPI: 2026 Trademark Guidelines, opposition proceedings