Fromage fray: Swiss, French cheesemakers fight to save ‘Gruyère’
Swiss and French cheesemakers want a US federal judge to overturn an order denying them trademark protection for Gruyère.
According to an August decision of the US Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), ‘Gruyère’ is “too generic” to function as a trademark for cheese, in a win for the US dairy industry.
The US Dairy Export Council opposed the trademark application, looking to reserve the right for US companies to market their own products under the name.
Associations representing Swiss and French Gruyère makers have now filed a court challenge, arguing that US cheesemakers are looking to “free ride on the centuries-old goodwill” of the cheese.
Interprofession du Gruyère (IDG), based in Switzerland, and France’s Syndicat Interprofessionnel du Gruyère, first filed for a US certification mark in 2015.
The application specified that Gruyère is a cheese made in certain regions of France and Switzerland.
The EU affords much stronger protection to designations of geographical origin than the US, meaning US food brands can use terms that in Europe carry stringent rules.
The US Dairy Export Council argues that Gruyère is a generic term in the US and does not have any geographical connotations, citing versions produced in Wisconsin.
According to the Syndicat and IDG, the TTAB was wrong in putting the burden of proof on them to establish that the term isn’t generic.
They argue the TTAB made “no effort” to establish to what extent the US public views Gruyère as a generic term, a key factor in whether it can function as a trademark.
They also cite alleged factual errors in the TTAB’s decision, such as mistaking genuine Swiss Gruyère for a version made in Wisconsin.
If successful, the Syndicat and IDG will be able to register the term as a trademark and block local US producers from using it.
Earlier this year, Cyprus managed to recover trademark protection for Halloumi in the EU, after an administrative error saw it lose its protected status.
Cypriot cheesemakers have also gone to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to block a Bulgarian dairy company from using the term ‘BBQLOUMI’, which they say could confuse customers.
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