EU court rules in favour of halloumi imitators

The General Court of the EU (CJEU) on Wednesday rejected the appeals filed by the Foundation for the Protection of the Traditional Cheese of Cyprus named Halloumi against the use of the ‘BBQloumi’ and ‘Grilloumi’ trademarks by companies in Bulgaria and Sweden.

According to an announcement released after the ruling, the CJEU deemed unfounded all the reasons for annulment put forward by the foundation against the use of the words ‘BBQloumi’ and ‘Grilloumi’, further stating that the Fifth Board of Appeal of the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) was fully entitled to find that there was no likelihood of confusion between the trademarks and that the foundation’s arguments regarding the infringement of regulation are unfounded.

The appeals were filed against the EUIPO and the two companies on February 24 and March 30, 2022 by the foundation, which was created in 2013 by the Cyprus Dairy Industry Organisation to protect halloumi from imitation abroad.

In January 2021, the CJEU ruled that there was no likelihood of confusion between the collective mark ‘halloumi’ reserved for the members of a Cypriot association, and ‘BBQloumi’.

In December of the same year, Cyprus suffered another blow, as the CJEU ejected two appeals filed by the foundation against the EUIPO regarding the registration of the trademark ‘Grilloumi’ by a Swedish company, ruling once again that similarities with the halloumi trademark did not cause confusion.

However, in a separate action brought by Cyprus against the EUIPO in relation to the same issue, the CJEU ruled that confusion as to the origin of the product cannot be ruled out when it is used in food and drink services, coffeeshops and restaurants.

The CJEU said all three cases focus on an application for registration of an EU trademark filed at the EUIPO by the Swedish company Fontana Food AB on October 25, 2016, concerning the name ‘Grilloumi’.

As a result, the Foundation appealed against the CJEU decision on February 24, 2022.
The appeal concerning the Bulgarian ‘BBQloumi’ cheese was filed on March 30, 2022.