All-American Swiss Army Knives

Switzerland is fiercely protective of its centuries-old armed neutrality, which has faced down potential foes as well as kept the Swiss out of the friendlier embrace of the United Nations and European Union.

But the very symbol of that independence--the Swiss Army name--is in American hands.

Under a landmark agreement with the Swiss Defense Ministry, a Connecticut-based company owns sweeping rights to market products under the “Swiss Army” name and the distinctive Swiss cross.

Two Swiss companies that supply the knives actually used by Switzerland’s militia army also market commercial versions, but their brands are longer names that contain the words “Swiss Army.”

Few people in Switzerland seem aware that a company on the other side of the Atlantic is entitled to virtually exclusive use of the Swiss Army name. When told, most are incredulous.

“You’ve got to be joking,” Maurice Lavergnat, a Geneva florist, said in a typical reaction. “Why? . . . How?”

Signed three years ago, the deal with Swiss Army Brands Inc. of Shelton, Conn., is meant to protect the Swiss Army trademark and quality standards of Swiss-made goods and clamp down on unauthorized products with military- sounding names.

Officials say marketing rights were licensed to an American company because of commercial reality --the fact that Swiss Army Brands spent millions of dollars building up markets over several decades and wasn’t about to change its name at the request of Swiss bureaucrats. Also, a U.S. company was considered to have far more clout than the Swiss in fighting piracy and cut-price look-alikes from China.

“We are concerned about cheap imitations,” said Daniel Loehrer of the Defense Ministry. “That’s one of the reasons we made the deal.”

The ministry will say only that the contract earns $6,000 to $12,600 a month in royalties, depending on sales. Swiss Army Brands had a profit of $1.5 million on revenues of $128 million in 1998.

“It was the best possible solution for the brand because we arrived 40 years too late” to protect the trademark for Switzerland itself, Loehrer said of the deal.

Determined to defend its territory better in the future, the Defense Ministry has filed for international trademark protection of the “Swiss Army XXI” name and logo to prevent foreign companies from taking the label for themselves.

This will not affect the existing rights of Swiss Army Brands, which hopes to continue to indulge Americans’ long-standing love affair with the Swiss Army concept.

“U.S. consumers have a very glamorous, romantic vision of the Swiss army,” said Rick Taggart, president and chief executive of the company.

“People still have the vision of our parents coming out of World War II with a red-handled knife that got nicknamed the Swiss Army knife--a memento that gave them a sense of pride and at the same time thanks that it was all over.”

Swiss Army Brands works closely with Switzerland’s Victorinox, which has produced the “Original Swiss Army Knife” for more than 100 years.

In addition to the ubiquitous knife, the American company’s Web site abounds with Swiss Army watches, pens and compasses. There are dozens of sunglasses, with names like Abyss, Alpine, Armageddon and Thunder. That image is a stark contrast to the distinctly unglamorous life that many Swiss army recruits complain about.

And, in a far cry from the stinking feet and sweaty armpits that pervade many military barracks, another company makes Swiss Army Eau de Toilette for men. Sold in a military-type flask, it’s a success in the United States and Middle East but is rarely found in Swiss stores.

“That’s totally perverse,” said August Hager, a 43-year-old real estate worker who said he hated every minute of his conscript duty. “What’s it made of, cow dung?” he asked, alternating between guffaws of laughter and stunned disbelief.

The toiletry range is produced by Precise International of New York, which is the U.S. marketing arm of the Swiss company Wenger, maker of the “Genuine Swiss Army Knife.”

In deference to Switzerland’s delicate linguistic balance, the army has always bought half its knives from Wenger, based in the French-speaking part of the country, and the other half from Victorinox in the German-speaking part.

By the same logic, the Defense Ministry’s marketing deal with Swiss Army Brands is extended to Precise. But Wenger and its U.S. arm remain frustrated at the extent of their competitor’s domination.

“I know several Swiss industrialists who were shocked that the Swiss Army brand name was offered to an American company and not to them,” says Wenger President Jacques Saucy.

“It’s crazy,” he adds. “We have the world’s leading watch industry and yet we give the rights to an American company.”

Taggart disagrees. “Nobody in the history of commercial endeavors ever paid the Swiss confederation prior to us approaching them on this agreement,” he says.

Meanwhile, a knife that is virtually an international household name isn’t selling to the Swiss army. The Defense Ministry, which gives a knife to every recruit, has not ordered a single one for two years because of high stocks and cutbacks in the number of men under arms.