Court denies trademark request for gruyere cheese in the United States

Published Jan 7, 2022

Tridge summary

A judicial ruling has reaffirmed that 'gruyere' is a generic style of cheese that can be produced and marketed by cheesemakers worldwide, upholding the rights of U.S. dairy stakeholders to use the term. This decision, supported by the U.S. Dairy Export Council, National Milk Producers Federation, and others, opposes the efforts of French and Swiss associations to monopolize the name. The case sets a crucial precedent in the ongoing dispute over the ownership of common food names, protecting the rights of manufacturers to use generic terms for their products.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

A judicial ruling has determined that “gruyere” is a generic style of cheese that can come from anywhere. The decision reaffirms that all cheesemakers, not just those in France or Switzerland, can continue to create and market cheese under this common name. In the judicial decision, the Consortium for Common Food Names, U.S. Dairy Export Council, National Milk Producers Federation, and a coalition of other dairy stakeholders prevailed in their sustained fight to preserve the ability of all actors in the U.S. marketplace to use generic terms. Senior Judge T. S. Ellis III of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia upheld the Aug. 5, 2020, precedential decision of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. “Not only is this a landmark victory for American dairy farmers and cheese producers who offer gruyere, this win sets a vital precedent in the much larger, ongoing battle over food names in the United States,” says Jaime ...

Source: Prairie Grain Partners