Switzerland has no unique claim to Emmental cheese, EU court rules

Emmentaler will not receive trademark protection in the European Union. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally

Swiss makers of Emmental cheese have lost their demand to exclusively use the trademark “Emmentaler” in the European Union.

The EU Court ruled on Wednesday that the term Emmentaler refers to a type of cheese familiar in German-speaking countries as opposed to a specific region in Switzerland.

The verdict means that Emmentaler cannot be designated a protected trademark in the EU, dealing a blow to makers of the Swiss cheese with distinctive holes.

It follows a decision in the United States last year that another well-known Swiss cheese, Gruyére, does not have to come from the Swiss region of the same name.

The cheese organisation Emmentaler Switzerland argued in vain to the EU court that Emmental cheeses from outside of Switzerland should be clearly labeled as such.

The Luxembourg judgment can still be appealed to the highest European court, the European Court of Justice.