Swedes lose right to register cheese ‘Grilloumi’

The general court of the EU said on Wednesday that the EU’s Intellectual Property Office should not have registered the name ‘Grilloumi’ by Swedish company Fontana Food AB.

The decision follows objections submitted by the ‘Foundation for the Protection of the Traditional Cheese of Cyprus named Halloumi’ which had argued that the EUIPO initial decision to register Grilloumi caused confusion.

It is the latest twist in proceedings dating back since February 2017 when the foundation had first filed its objections to the EUIPO regarding the name Grilloumi which Fontana had registered as an EU trademark the previous year.

The EUIPO dismissed this objection saying the product has no similarities with halloumi in name and taste. The foundation applied to the fourth board of appeal of EUIPO but lost there too.

The case then moved to the general court which on Wednesday decided to annul the EUIPO decision of May 2019.

It ordered EUIPO to bear its own costs and pay those incurred by the ‘Foundation for the Protection of the Traditional Cheese of Cyprus’ named Halloumi. Fontana Food was also ordered to bear its own costs.