The Mexican food company Bimbo cannot register its trademark “Bimbo QSR” in Switzerland. The Federal Administrative Court confirmed the rejection due to the racist connotations of the term.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Español
es
Multinacional mexicana no puede registrar su marca “Bimbo QSR” en Suiza
Do you want to read our weekly top stories? Subscribe here.
The Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IGE) justified its rejection with the “deeply derogatory and racist” meaning of the term “bimbo” for dark-skinned people.
More
More
Racism in Switzerland: are we taking it seriously enough?
This content was published on
Last year, there were 327 reported cases of anti-Black racism. Are we doing enough to fight racism? Join the debate on “dialogue”.
In its complaint to the Federal Administrative Court, Grupo Bimbo SAB claimed that Bimbo should be understood according to its meaning “toddler” in the Italian language. In addition, the addition of “QSR” for Quick Service Restaurant means that the word stands in a context that excludes any racist innuendo.
The judges in St. Gallen rejected these arguments in a ruling published on Tuesday. They note that the question is judged based on average understanding. The intention with which the disputed word is used is not relevant.
Translated from German by DeepL/mga
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Doctors Without Borders demands Swiss Gaza clarification
This content was published on
The NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has challenged Swiss foreign minister Ignazio Cassis to explain his controversial Gaza statements.
Data centres use four times more electricity than average
This content was published on
The power consumption of data centres, used in particular for AI, is four times higher than average, warns the International Telecommunication Union.
One in five bee colonies failed to survive Swiss winter
This content was published on
Almost a fifth of bee colonies in Switzerland failed to survive the winter. Losses have been greater than in previous years.
Switzerland condemns deadly attack on UN convoy in Sudan
This content was published on
Switzerland has strongly condemned the deadly attack on a United Nations humanitarian convoy in Sudan. Five people were killed, wrote the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) on Platform X.
Most over-65s in Switzerland regularly use the internet
This content was published on
The digital divide is narrowing faster than expected in Switzerland. A study published on Wednesday reveals that nine out of ten over-65s use the internet.
Will Swiss president be forbidden from speaking English to counterparts?
This content was published on
Switzerland's president, Karin Keller-Sutter, should use one of the country's four national languages when communicating with international organisations, and not English, according to a motion that passed on Wednesday.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.