# Recherche d'anteriorite

Use this reference for Swiss trademark clearance strategy.

## Important Limit

The local Swissreg corpus in this plugin contains professional examples of labels and class combinations. It is not a complete Swiss trademark register search and must not be presented as one.

Use `clearance_search_plan` to produce the search cascade and variants. The plan still requires execution in the live databases by the lawyer or a search provider.

## Manual Search Cascade

1. Swissreg for exact and close verbal matches in Switzerland.
2. TMview for multi-office search and additional visibility.
3. Global Brand Database for international and figurative/image searches.
4. Madrid Monitor for international registrations designating Switzerland.
5. Zefix and web search for company names and unregistered commercial uses.

Record the database, query, filters, territory, status filters, and search date for every executed search. Do not collapse an unavailable database, a planned query, and a zero-result search into the same “clear” conclusion.

## Query Strategy

Search the exact sign, normalized variants, phonetic variants, spacing/hyphen variants, translations, dominant elements, and visual descriptors for figurative signs. For combined marks, search the verbal element independently and the figurative element by image/codes where available.

For short signs or abbreviations, avoid treating broad keyword matches as clearance results. Short tokens often produce noise and must be searched with exact, phonetic, visual, and sector-specific controls.

## Risk Assessment

Assess similarity of signs, overlap of goods/services, commercial proximity, distinctiveness of the earlier mark, status, territory, and applicant risk tolerance. Explain that a clean first-pass search is not a legal clearance guarantee.

## Deliverable Discipline

State whether searches are only planned or have actually been executed. A filing memo should not describe a search as clear unless live Swissreg/Madrid/TMview or a professional search has been reviewed.

## Official Sources

- [IPI — Carrying out a search yourself](https://www.ige.ch/en/protecting-your-ip/trade-marks/before-you-apply/requirements-for-protection/risk-of-conflict/carrying-out-a-search-yourself): official starting point for earlier-right checks and their limits.
- [Swissreg](https://www.swissreg.ch): live Swiss register status and publication data.
- [TMview](https://www.tmdn.org/tmview/), [WIPO Global Brand Database](https://branddb.wipo.int/), and [Madrid Monitor](https://www3.wipo.int/madrid/monitor/en/): complementary live databases; coverage and status must be checked in each service.
- [Zefix](https://www.zefix.ch): Swiss commercial-register name checks, which are complementary to trade-mark searches.