EU court annuls EUIPO’s decisions in halloumi trademark disputes

The EU General Court annulled a series of European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) decisions centring on halloumi cheese, in four judgments delivered on Friday, November 23.

In 2012, Papouis Dairies, a Cyprus-based halloumi producer, applied to register two figurative marks at the EUIPO in class 9 for cheese made out of sheep’s, cow’s, or goat’s milk.

One mark, in yellow, white, and blue, features the words ‘Papouis Halloumi’. The other, in yellow, white, blue, and red, includes the word ‘Fino’ above the words ‘Cyprus Halloumi Cheese’.

The Cypriot government and the Foundation for the Protection of the Traditional Cheese of Cyprus named Halloumi opposed the registration of both marks.

The government relied on the earlier-registered UK word certification mark for ‘Halloumi’ (1,451,888), registered in 2002 and renewed until 2017, which covers the same goods in class 29 as the applied-for marks.

Meanwhile, the foundation relied on the earlier-registered EU collective word mark ‘Halloumi’ (1,082,965), registered in 2000 to cover cheeses in class 29.

Collective marks are used to distinguish the goods/services of a group of companies or members of an association from those of competitors.

The Opposition Division rejected all oppositions in 2014, and the Fourth Board of Appeal upheld the decisions in 2017.

In the oppositions to the ‘Papouis Halloumi’ mark, the board said that there is no visual, phonetic, or conceptual similarity between the applied-for mark and either of the earlier-registered marks.

The board added that the foundation’s ‘Halloumi’ mark has a low level of distinctiveness, as the term ‘halloumi’ is a generic name for a speciality cheese.

In the oppositions to the ‘Fino’ mark, the board noted that the word ‘Fino’ is dominant, while ‘Cyprus Halloumi Cheese’ occupies a secondary place and describes the nature of the goods it covers.

As a result, the applied-for mark is not similar to either of the earlier-registered marks, the board said.

The government and the foundation each appealed against both decisions.

On Friday, the General Court annulled all the EUIPO’s decisions in the oppositions.

In the ‘Papouis Halloumi’ appeals, the court said that the applied-for mark is similar to the earlier-registered marks, albeit to a low degree.

But, in reaching a different conclusion, the board did not complete its “global comparison of those signs taking account of the interdependence of all the relevant factors”, the court said.

In the ‘Fino’ appeals, the court said that although the applied-for mark is dominated by the word ‘Fino’, the words ‘Cyprus Halloumi Cheese’ still occupy a central position. Given the colouring, they also “stand out without difficulty”, the court found.

Again, the court said that the applied-for mark is similar to the earlier-registered marks to a low degree, and that the board had failed to complete a global assessment of the marks by reaching a different conclusion.

The court ordered the EUIPO to pay the costs incurred by the government and the foundation, and Papouis Dairies to bear its own costs.

The four decisions can be read here, here, here, and here.