|Swatch seems to have a|
'Made in Cat' brand ...
The debate centres on a change to the current "directive", which provides that a watch must contain at least 50% Swiss manufacture of the value of the watch movement parts to be eligible for the designation. This means that a manufacturer can in principle import all of the ancillary parts of the watch, such as the dials, cases and hands, and still satisfy the requirement, provided that at least 50% of the watch movements are made in Switzerland. As such, says the chairman of the Swiss watch federation, "watches produced almost entirely in China can be sold legally under the "Swiss Made" label." The result is that "[s]ome complain their Swiss watches are not as Swiss as they should be", he added.
The lower house of the Swiss parliament proposes to raise that minimum amount made in Switzerland to 60%, while the upper house wants the amount to remain the current 50%. What is crucial in both cases is that the proposed percentage will apply not only to the watch movements, but to the overall value of the watch. So what are the economic consequences? It depends upon who you ask. Some say that the change as proposed will enhance the quality of the watch by ensuring that "more" of it is actually made in Switzerland. "Not so fast", says others. Since the determination is to be made on the basis of the overall value of the watch, and given the high cost of almost everything in Switzerland, including the manufacture of watch movements and the like, the result might be that certain Swiss watch manufacturers will be more inclined to import even more low-cost components, making minimum use of Swiss-originating components. Here, the value of the expensive Swiss components will be integrated with cheaper "non-Swiss" components. The paradoxical end-game might be that raising the percentage requirement and making it apply to the overall value of the watch will make the ultimate product even "less Swiss" than before. "More" might actually mean "less". If so, could there be a threat to the prestige of "Swiss Made" as the designation applies to watches.
All of this recent flurry of attention to the operative meaning of "Made in Switzerland" raises an interesting trademark-related point. Classic trade mark law puts generic designations outside the pale of legal protection. But that pale is not as hermetically sealed as one might think. A generic domain name, with an unassailable registration, may be worth a lot of money. In a roughly analogous fashion, the descriptive designation "Made in Switzerland" has been impregnated with value when applied to goods under certain terms and conditions. Sanctioning genericness under various legal guises is alive and well.
This Kat has to run out now--he just checked, it is already after midnight on his Made in Switzerland "Swatch" watch.
More on Swiss cheese here.
More on Swiss chocolate here.
More on Swiss army knives here.