Overview
According to the legal definition of art. 1 of DesG (SR 232.12), a design is a configuration of products or of parts of products, namely characterized by the positioning of lines, surfaces, contours or colours (for instance, a logo) or by the material used. The protection scope of the Swiss design law comprises designs that display the same essential characteristics and thus, raise the same general feeling of an already registered design (art. 8 of DesG). The holder of the right receives, with the design protection, an exclusive right to the commercial use of the design. 

Protection conditions
So that a configuration can be comprised within the design protection rights as a visually identifiable shape, it must at least be new and display "unique character" (art. 2 (1) of DesG).

A design cannot be considered new if, before the filing or priority date (date of first filing), an identical design has been made available to the public, that could already be known to the relevant class of persons concerned in Switzerland (art. 2 (2) of DesG). It should be noted that, among others, the premature disclosure of the configuration by the holder of the right does not itself affect the novelty, provided the design is filed for registration within a 12 month period (art. 3 (b) of DesG).

A design does not have singular character if, according to its general impression, it only differs from another design that could already be known to the relevant class of persons concerned in Switzerland, in insignificant details (art. 2 (3) of DesG).

Obtainment
To acquire a design right in Switzerland, each configuration in question has to be filed, analysed and registered at the design registration of the Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IGE) (art. 5 (1) of DesG). The maximum duration of the protection effect is limited to 25 years, whereby after 5 years, an application for an extension must be submitted (art. 5 (2) and (3) of DesG). For a design protection at international level (also with effect in Switzerland), it is possible to request to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), according to the Hague Agreement concerning the international deposit of industrial designs and models (HMA, SR 0.232.121.4), the registration of the corresponding designs. The protecting scope of the design, in spatial terms, is thus extensive to the area of HMA Member States. Should a protection of a design be requested in a state that is not a Member State of a Treaty among States, an own national process shall be carried out for the design registration. For the Member States of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (PVÜ; SR 0.232.02/04) the right of priority is applied, according to which, at international level, the date of the first registration is decisive for all the applications of design patent taking place in the 6 following months (art. 4 (c) (1) of PVÜ). The same is also applicable to States that are not members of the PVÜ, but which grant reciprocal rights to Switzerland (art. 22 (2) of DesG).