Unfair Competition Act, Exploitation of Another Person's Market-Ready Work Product
Federal Act against Unfair Competition (UWG/LCD), SR 241, Art. 2, 5 lit. c, 23
A citation is an address, not a summary. The first part names the law; what follows narrows it to the exact section, article or paragraph.
In force since 1 March 1988.
An unfair competition rule binding private bodies.
As of 6 September 2026.
What it requires
- Do not take over and exploit, through a technical reproduction process, another person's market-ready work product without a reasonable effort of your own.
- Intentional conduct that meets this or the Act's other unfair-competition grounds is prosecuted on complaint and can carry a custodial sentence or a monetary penalty, in addition to any civil claim.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionYes
Criminal exposure note
Article 23 paragraph 1: intentional unfair competition under Articles 3, 4, 5 or 6 is punishable on complaint by a custodial sentence not exceeding three years or a monetary penalty, in the wording in force since 1 July 2016.
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Article 2's general clause treats as unfair and unlawful any deceptive conduct, or conduct otherwise contrary to good faith, that affects the relationship between competitors or between suppliers and customers.
Article 5 lit. c specifically treats as unfair taking over and exploiting, as such, another's market-ready work product through a technical reproduction process without a reasonable own effort, a misappropriation-style doctrine capable of reaching the wholesale technical copying of a competitor's compiled output, including scraped data, though no reported Swiss case applies it specifically to web scraping.
Intentional unfair competition under Articles 3 to 6 is a criminal offence on complaint, carrying a custodial sentence not exceeding three years or a monetary penalty (Art. 23 para. 1), in its current form since 1 July 2016.
When LexLint raises it
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