FAQ: resolve a .ch domain dispute under the national procedure

What does it mean to resolve a .ch domain dispute under the national procedure?

Resolving a .ch dispute through the national procedure means using the SWITCH dispute-resolution rules rather than filing a UDRP complaint at WIPO or the Forum. SWITCH is the designated registry for .ch and .li domains, and it maintains a published dispute procedure that governs when a domain can be transferred or deleted based on third-party rights. The UDRP applies to gTLDs such as .com and .net; it does not extend to .ch. A complainant who holds trademark rights recognized under Swiss law may invoke the SWITCH procedure to challenge a registration they believe infringes those rights. In our practice, brand owners sometimes arrive expecting a UDRP-style process and are surprised to find that the applicable rules, the evidentiary standard, and the procedural steps are all distinct. The key practical point: you cannot simply refile a failed or untested UDRP complaint and have it apply to a .ch domain. The governing national procedure applies, full stop.

How does the .ch national procedure differ from the UDRP?

The UDRP requires a complainant to satisfy all three elements of Paragraph 4(a) – confusing similarity to a mark, no legitimate interest in the respondent, and registration and use in bad faith – as a cumulative test before any remedy is ordered. The .ch national procedure does not map onto that three-part structure. Instead, the analysis is grounded in Swiss civil law: the key questions are whether the complainant holds cognizable rights in a name or mark under the applicable national legal instruments, and whether the current registrant's use or registration of the .ch domain conflicts with those rights in a way the Swiss legal system recognizes as unlawful or unfair. Several practical differences follow. First, the evidentiary framing shifts: bad faith as a UDRP term of art is not a required element, though the registrant's conduct remains highly relevant. Second, Swiss trademark and unfair-competition law may protect a wider range of rights holders than the UDRP's trademark-centric test, including company names and civil-law personality rights in certain circumstances. Third, because the procedure is nationally grounded, the approach to interim relief and to parallel court proceedings in Switzerland differs from what a complainant would encounter at WIPO. We regularly advise clients on this distinction when they hold rights in multiple zones and need to calibrate the strategy for each one.

If you are weighing the .ch national procedure against a parallel UDRP action for a gTLD you also need to recover, contact info@cognomenlaw.com for an assessment of both routes.

What evidence is needed to resolve a .ch domain dispute under the national procedure?

The evidence that tends to decide a .ch dispute falls into two categories: proof of the complainant's rights, and proof of the basis for challenging the registrant's domain. On the rights side, a complainant typically needs to demonstrate a valid Swiss or internationally recognized trademark registration, a company name registration, or another cognizable interest in the name at issue – supported by registration certificates, official records, and where relevant, evidence of use establishing the mark's reputation in Switzerland. On the challenge side, the complainant must show that the registrant's domain conflicts with those rights in a legally sufficient way: for example, by demonstrating confusing similarity, by showing the registrant is exploiting the complainant's name or reputation, or by presenting evidence that the domain was registered with a view to disrupting the complainant's commercial activity. WHOIS and registration history records remain relevant, because they help establish when the domain was registered relative to when the complainant's rights arose. Screenshots of the domain's use – or its non-use, which can itself be significant – form part of a well-constructed file. Missing or thin evidence on either category is the most common reason a .ch dispute does not produce the outcome a complainant expected. We have found that assembling the rights-side record before filing, rather than during the procedure, produces materially better results.

How long does it take to resolve a .ch domain dispute under the national procedure?

The timeline for a .ch dispute through the SWITCH procedure depends on the complexity of the matter and whether the registrant participates. Because the governing national procedure applies rather than the standardized UDRP rules, timelines are not defined by a single published ruleset in the same way as the UDRP's roughly two-month standard window. In practice, straightforward cases that do not involve contested factual issues or parallel court proceedings are typically resolved in a matter of weeks to a few months; contested matters can take longer. If the dispute escalates to Swiss civil court – which is an option where the national procedure does not produce a satisfactory outcome, or where interim injunctive relief is needed – the court timeline is governed by Swiss civil procedure and can extend significantly. A DENIC-style registration block equivalent does not exist in .ch in the same form as in Germany, so the question of domain movement during the dispute period is one to assess with counsel at the outset. For a brand owner facing a time-sensitive commercial situation, the availability and mechanics of any interim protection under Swiss civil law deserve early attention.

What does it cost to resolve a .ch domain dispute under the national procedure at SWITCH?

SWITCH publishes official fees for its dispute procedures, and those fees are separate from any legal costs the parties incur. Because SWITCH's published fee schedule is subject to revision, the current applicable rates should be confirmed directly with SWITCH or with counsel before filing. As a general orientation: the official fees for national ccTLD procedures of this type are typically more modest than the WIPO filing fees for a UDRP complaint, which begin at USD 1,500 for a single-member panel on one to five domains. Legal costs for preparing and presenting a .ch dispute file – assembling rights evidence, drafting the complaint, and managing any response phase – depend on the complexity of the matter and the strength of the existing rights documentation. We present our services with transparent pricing, and we are glad to give a clear range once we have reviewed the specific domain and the rights at stake. What we can say generally: the total cost of a .ch dispute is often lower than a full UDRP proceeding, but that advantage is quickly eroded if the matter proceeds to Swiss civil court, where costs are governed by a different scale entirely.

To weigh UDRP against the .ch national procedure for your case, email info@cognomenlaw.com.

Can I resolve a .ch domain dispute under the national procedure for more than one domain at once?

Whether a single .ch procedure can address multiple domains simultaneously depends on the rules as published by SWITCH and on the specific facts of the matter. Under the UDRP, a single complaint may cover multiple domains where the registrant is the same holder – a feature useful for portfolio-wide enforcement. The .ch national procedure operates under different rules, and the scope for consolidating multiple domains in one filing is a point to confirm against the current SWITCH procedure rules before filing. Where multiple .ch domains are held by different registrants but each allegedly infringes the same mark, separate proceedings are generally necessary. In our experience advising clients with broad portfolios, the practical approach to a multi-domain .ch situation usually involves a triage: identifying which domains pose the greatest immediate harm, prioritizing those for early action, and assessing whether the remaining registrations are worth a separate dispute or better addressed through a buy-out negotiation. The economics of each domain matter, and so does the strength of the underlying rights evidence relative to each specific registration.

What are the possible outcomes when you resolve a .ch domain dispute under the national procedure?

The remedies available through the .ch national procedure – consistent with how most ccTLD dispute procedures operate – are limited to transfer of the domain to the successful complainant or deletion of the registration. No monetary damages are awarded through the procedure itself; that remedy, if sought, requires civil court proceedings in Switzerland. A complainant who succeeds on the merits can expect one of those two outcomes, with transfer being the more commercially valuable result for a brand owner who wants to operate the domain. A respondent who succeeds keeps the domain. Where the procedure produces a decision that one party wishes to challenge, the route typically runs through the Swiss courts. It is also worth noting that a successful outcome in the .ch procedure does not automatically resolve any parallel dispute over related gTLDs – a .com bearing the same name requires a separate UDRP action or other remedy. We have defended registrants in .ch proceedings where the complainant's rights were weaker than the filing suggested, and in a recent matter (a .ch brand dispute, early 2026) we helped a registrant retain a domain that had been the target of an aggressive challenge unsupported by sufficient Swiss-law rights.