EU Court of Justice rejects Swiss Emmentaler claim

Austrian dairy organization VÖM offers no support to Swiss colleagues who want to make Emmentaler cheese a purely Swiss product. “We are pleased if this type of cheese, which is important for Austria, can continue to be produced. After all, it is also anchored in the Austrian food codex,” states VÖM president Helmut Petschar.

In 2017, the Emmentaler Switzerland organisation applied to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) for protection of the Emmental/Emmentaler brand and, after several years, also failed before the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.

The Swiss initially registered with the international office of the World Intellectual Property Organization and then reported it to the EUIPO for registration, which the latter rejected. With its judgment, the Court of Justice of the European Union now dismisses this action.

The Association of Austrian Milk Processors (VÖM) took part in this process and, as an Emmental producing country, took a stand against it in a detailed argument together with other provincial organisations.

Since Emmental production also has a long tradition in Austria, Austrians claim that just like in other EU countries, Emmentaler cheese represents a common sales designation and can therefore not be protected under trademark law.