The market supervision administration of Putuo district looks into a case of the unauthorized use of the name "Swiss". [Photo provided to ensipa.cn]

The market supervision administration – in the Putuo district of East China's Shanghai city – recently received a letter of thanks from the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property for its investigation and settlement of an intellectual property case involving the misuse of the word "Swiss".

The reported case involved the use of the name as a trademark, without the consent of the government in Switzerland.

In March 2021, the market supervision office received a complaint from the Swiss IP body that Company A (a pseudonym) in Shanghai, without approval, had conducted online and offline sales of products using "Swiss" as a trademark.

Investigations showed that the word "Swiss" used by Company A was not approved by the Swiss government and the trademark was not registered.

The Putuo administration, in accordance with the Trademark Law in China, ordered the party concerned to make corrections and imposed a fine.

The case is said to be part of the wider move to promptly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of countries and severely crack down on trademark violations.

The Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property sent the letter afterwards thanking the relevant departments in Shanghai for their quick, strict and efficient administrative law enforcement actions.

It said they had protected the legitimate rights and interests of the Swiss government, as well as consumers.