Facts
This case concerns an action for declaratory judgment and injunction against acts of unfair competition brought by Ing. W. Örtli Aktiengesellschaft against AG für Ölfeuerungen and other defendants. Although the amount in dispute was not specified in the appeal, the FSCA nevertheless held that it could be determined with certainty and exceeded CHF 15,000.
The Court held that the conditions and effects of the unlawful act of unfair competition were subject to the choice of the injured party, either the law of the place where the act was committed or the law of the place where the result occurred. Thus, Ing. W. Örtli Aktiengesellschaft could invoke the protection of Swiss law against unfair competition, not only for the advertisements published in the "Neue Zürcher Zeitung" in Switzerland, but also for the article "Oil-Therm contra Örtli" published in the foreign magazine "Ölfeuertechnik", as it was also distributed in Switzerland and known in Swiss specialist circles.
Considerations
According to the case law of the Federal Tribunal, criticism based on comparisons is lawful insofar as the latter are objectively accurate, do not mislead, and are not defamatory. The lawful or unlawful nature of a statement made in the press as a means of economic competition depends on how the reader is to understand it.
The Federal Tribunal held that Swiss law on unfair competition is not intended to protect the position acquired by…