The short answer
A Swiss trademark is protected for ten years from its filing date and can be renewed for further ten-year periods. You can request renewal from twelve months before expiry until six months afterwards. Late renewal attracts a surcharge. Use your registration's actual expiry date, not the date someone last sent an invoice.
Take the deadline from your own register entry
Identify the trademark by its registration number and record its filing and expiry dates. Later registration does not simply move the statutory starting point. Maintain separate deadlines for multiple trademarks. A name and a logo may be separate applications with their own individual renewal calendars.
The IPI generally sends a reminder before protection expires. Responsibility nevertheless remains yours. Check the contact details in the register and agree internally who handles reminders. A staff change or an old email address should not decide whether the renewal is completed on time.
Sources: Fedlex: Trade Mark Protection Act, term and renewal · IPI: Renewing trademark protection in time
Complete the request and payment within the correct window
The ordinary renewal fee is currently CHF 550. Renewal within the additional six-month period attracts a CHF 50 surcharge. Plan completion before the ordinary expiry date, so that a query or a payment assigned to the wrong matter does not unnecessarily consume the time available.
Specify the correct registration number and retain payment evidence. If you have an appointed representative, explicitly agree who submits the request and makes payment. If the ordinary deadline has already passed, immediately establish the actual status and remaining late-renewal period instead of waiting for another reminder.
Sources: IPI: Renewal fee and late surcharge · IPI: Renewing trademark protection in time
Combine renewal with a focused portfolio check
Renewal pays for the next protection period; it does not replace evidence of rights-maintaining trademark use. Non-use remains a separate question. Establish the goods and services for which the mark is actually being used, and retain suitable evidence from your ongoing commercial activities.
Also compare the registered sign with your current branding and the goods list with your present offerings. Renewal is not a procedure for freely adding new products or a different logo. Protection gaps may require a new application, which should be prepared and budgeted separately from the renewal.
Sources: Fedlex: Trade Mark Protection Act, term and renewal · IPI: Using your trademark
What you can do now
- Record each trademark's registration details and expiry in a calendar.
- Assign responsibility for the request, payment and confirmation.
- Review use, current branding and new offerings at the same time.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still renew after expiry?
Yes. The law provides an additional six months. The request and required payment must be completed in time; the current surcharge is CHF 50 on top of the renewal fee.
Sources: Fedlex: Trade Mark Protection Act, term and renewal · IPI: Renewal fee and late surcharge
Does renewal start a fresh grace period for use?
No. Do not rely on payment to resolve a non-use problem. Actual use and its legal assessment remain separately relevant.
Sources: IPI: Using your trademark