GENEVA, March 27: The Swiss would certainly say that only in Switzerland can such things happen. A major court battle is looming in Switzerland over who owns the rights to use not only the words Swissair but also Swiss — the bright red logo appearing these days on the new aviation group being created out of what used to be known as Crossair.

SAirGroup, which last October sold a 70 per cent stake in Crossair to two Swiss banks UBS and CS, says that it still holds title to the name under which the new airline is to fly — Swiss — and that it has chosen to file suit against Crossair SA, the new company originally acquired by UBS and CS, for infringing on its right to the name and logo.

When they acquired the 70 per cent stake in Crossair, says SAirGroup, UBS and CS were accorded the option to buy rights to the “Swissair” brand, and that “three experts appointed jointly by SAirGroup and Crossair SA” had set its value at 660 million Swiss Francs.

As Crossair SA has chosen neither to exercise its option nor “manifested any serious interest in acquiring the rights,” SAirGroup says that it “finds itself obligated to take all legal measures necessary to forbid the use of the new identity.”

The legal measures are even more pressing, says an SAirGroup source, since Crossair SA unveiled its new commercial identity in February, when it also announced its summer schedule. To add insult to injury, in the estimation of SAirGroup, Crossair SA also let it be known at the unveiling that later this year it planned on changing its legal name from Crossair to ... Swiss Air Lines Ltd, a trifle too close to the Swissair brand that SAirGroup says Crossair chose not to buy when it had the chance.

In the communique announcing its decision to sue Crossair SA for its misappropriation of the Swissair name and look, SAirGroup notes that it also owns the authors’ rights to the Swissair name, as well as to the “rhomboid with a Swiss cross,” that was so long part of the Swissair trademark.

Which means that as far as it’s concerned, Crossair SA has no right to re-selling rights to the name and logo to any third parties. Rights which belong not only to SAirGroup, says the spokesman, but also the multifarious companies and enterprises that in turn are associated with SAirGroup.