EU’s refusal to recognise Swiss cheese trademark contested in court

Emmentaler' trademark: Swiss organisation before EU Court Keystone-SDA

The European Commission does not want to recognise the trademark of the traditional Swiss cheese Emmentaler. The organisation Emmentaler Switzerland has lodged an appeal against this decision with the Court of Justice of the European Union, which is based in Luxembourg.

Trademark protection should allow the original to be clearly distinguished from imitations, Urs Schluechter, director of Emmentaler Switzerland, told Swiss news agency Keystone-SDA. The aim, he explained, is to ensure that the name ‘Emmentaler’ is used exclusively for the registered designation of origin Swiss cheese by registering the name with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

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Since January, however, the European Commission has refused to protect the name. The EU executive justifies its decision on the grounds that the name is historically and culturally linked to a wider geographical area than just Switzerland, adding that the name ‘Emmentaler’ is considered generic in the EU.

Agreement on cheese names

In April, Emmentaler Switzerland filed an appeal with the EU Court of Justice, arguing that the term ‘Emmentaler’ is protected as a geographical designation of origin by several international agreements.

One of these was signed in 1951 in Stresa, Piedmont: “International law has thus recognised since the 1950s that the designation ‘Emmentaler’ is reserved exclusively for Swiss cheeses, and this has already been confirmed by the Italian courts,” the appeal reads.

The Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, which asked the court to intervene on behalf of the European Commission, also relies on history: Emmentaler has been produced and marketed in Austria since at least 1936.

Emmentaler according to specifications

The Swiss professional body would like Emmentaler produced outside Switzerland to be declared with the indication of the country or region of production, ‘e.g. ‘Emmentaler from Austria’, Schluechter explained.

In Switzerland, Emmentaler is protected by a registered designation of origin (AOC/AOP), which means that the cheese must meet the requirements of a specification drawn up by the Federal Office for Agriculture which, in addition to the place of production, also regulates the size, weight and holes of the cheese.

According to the list of obligations, the geographical area includes not only the Bern valley through which the Emme flows, but also extends beyond from some Fribourg districts to Lake Constance.

Adapted from Italian by DeepL/ac

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