CJEU tells court to revisit halloumi dispute in win for Cyprus
05-03-2020
‘Huge sigh of relief’ after Cyprus regains ‘Halloumi’ TM
04-02-2020
Michalakis Ppalis / Shutterstock.com
The judgments handed down by the EU General Court relating to the IP safeguarding Halloumi cheese shows the limitations of relying on arguments based on collective marks, says Constantin Eikel of Bird & Bird.
The EU General Court issued three judgments on December 8, 2021, all of which concerned two trademark applications made by the Swiss company Fontana Food, which had applied for EU trademark protection for ‘Grilloumi’ (EU 015963291) and ‘Grilloumi Burger’ (EU 015963283) in October 2016 (T-556/19, T-593/19 and T-595/19).
These trademarks are a play on words on Halloumi, a type of cheese often associated with the island of Cyprus where it has been produced for many centuries.
The Republic of Cyprus and the Foundation for the Protection of the Traditional Cheese of Cyprus named Halloumi have both tried—in the past successfully—to protect the word ‘Halloumi’ for such cheeses originating from Cyprus.
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Bird & Bird, halloumi, EU General Court, collective marks, trademarks, EUIPO, goods and services, GIs, PDOs, IP rights
