Facts
Company A. AG (plaintiff) with its registered office in Dietikon has been importing and distributing in Switzerland the products of company B. (defendant) with its registered office in Copenhagen since December 1990. In September 1995, the defendant informed the plaintiff that it intended to entrust the importation of its products to company D. AG. The plaintiff asserted that an exclusive distribution contract could only be terminated with six months' notice, which the defendant disputed. The plaintiff then sued the defendant before the Commercial Court of the Canton of Zurich for damages of CHF 150,000 for premature termination of the contract.Considerations
According to the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union on the Brussels Convention, when a legal action is based on multiple contractual obligations, the forum of the place of performance must be determined separately for each obligation. Only the characteristic obligation of the claim asserted by the plaintiff must be taken into account to determine the competent forum.
In the present case, the plaintiff bases its claim solely on the defendant's breach of the distribution obligation. The Federal Tribunal therefore considers that there is no need to rule separately on the commercial obligation. The competent…