Prohibition for a Swiss branch to use a company name too similar to that of a competitor

Facts

The company Mondia SA, which operates a watch factory in La Chaux-de-Fonds, registered its company name in the commercial register in November 1960. In August 1962, the fiduciary company Mondial Trust Registré, headquartered in Vaduz (Liechtenstein), registered a branch in Geneva under the name "Mondial Trust Registré, Vaduz, Geneva branch". Mondia SA then sued Mondial Trust Registré, concluding with a request to prohibit the use of this company name, as it believed it risked creating confusion with its own company name.

Considerations

1. Economic competition is unfair when it can be influenced to the detriment of a competitor by means contrary to the rules of good faith, in particular when a person uses a trade name that is not sufficiently distinct from that of a competitor (Art. 1(2)(d) UCA). 2. Although Mondial Trust Registré was registered in the commercial register of Liechtenstein as early as 1947, this registration has no effect in Switzerland. Only registration in the Swiss register is decisive under Swiss law (Art. 956 and 951(2) CO). 3. Swiss branches of foreign companies must comply with the same requirements as Swiss companies regarding the distinctiveness of trade names (Art. 952 CO). The use…