Intellectual Property Law

European Court Protects Geographic Designation for Parmesan Cheese

By Michael Atkins

As STL readers know, Champagne only comes from the Champagne region of France (STL post here). And Wild American Shrimp only come from “their native habitat in the coastal waters of the Gulf and East Coasts of the United States” (STL post here). 

As I suspect Italians have long known, true Parmesan cheese only comes from Italy. The five regions around Parma, in northern Italy, to be exact, and is made only from raw milk, with no additives, and is aged at least one year. At least that’s what the European Court of Justice ruled today.

Billboard at the border of Parma and Piacenza announcing
the home of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheee. Photo credit: J.P. Lon

The ruling was a setback for German producers whose “Parmesan” cheese was deemed to be imitation. In so ruling, the court rejected Germany’s argument that the name was generic for a type of hard, crumbly cheese that is often grated over food. On that issue, the court found:

“When assessing the generic character of a name, the Court has held that it is necessary, under Article 3(1) of Regulation 2081/92, to take into account the places of production of the product concerned both inside and outside the Member State which obtained the registration of the name at issue, the consumption of that product and how it is perceived by consumers inside and outside that Member State, the existence of national legislation specifically relating to that product, and the way in which the name has been used in Community law.

“As indicated by the Advocate General in points 63 and 64 of his Opinion, the Federal Republic of Germany restricted itself to providing quotations from dictionaries and specialist literature which do not provide any comprehensive view of how the word ‘Parmesan’ is perceived by consumers in Germany and other Member States, and failed even to give any figures as to the production or consumption of the cheese marketed under the name ‘Parmesan’ in Germany or in other Member States.

“According to the documents in the case, in Germany, certain producers of cheese called ‘Parmesan’ market that product with labels referring to Italian cultural traditions and landscapes. It is legitimate to infer from this that consumers in that Member State perceive ‘Parmesan’ cheese as a cheese associated with Italy, even if in reality it was produced in another Member State.

“Finally, at the hearing, the Federal Republic of Germany was also unable to provide information on the quantity of cheese produced in Italy under the PDO ‘Parmigiano Reggiano’ and imported into Germany, making it impossible for the Court to use the factors relating to the consumption of that cheese as indicators of the generic character of the name ‘Parmesan’.

“Since the Federal Republic of Germany has therefore failed to show that the name ‘Parmesan’ has become generic, use of the word ‘Parmesan’ for cheese which does not comply with the specification for the PDO ‘Parmigiano Reggiano’ must be regarded for the purposes of the present proceedings as infringing the protection provided for that PDO under Article 13(1)(b) of Regulation No 2081/92.”

“U.S. foodmaker Kraft Foods Inc. has used the name Parmesan for grated hard cheese since the mid-1940s, according to its Web site. ‘Kraft Grated Parmesan’ was introduced in green and red canisters in 1945. Donna Hrinak, a company spokeswoman in Zurich, Switzerland, said Kraft doesn’t sell Parmesan cheese in Europe.”

The case cite is Commission v. Germany, C-132/05 (European Court of Justice, Feb. 26, 2007).

Full post as published by Seattle Trademark Lawyer on February 26, 2008 (boomark / email).