Not confusing ‘Halloumi’ and ‘Halloumi-Vermion’, EU court rules

March 25, 2021

The European General Court on Wednesday rejected the appeal made by the «Foundation for the Protection of the Traditional Cheese of Cyprus named Halloumi» against the EU Intellectual Property Office for trademark infringement regarding a Greek product called «Halloumi/Vermion grill cheese,» which obtained trademark registration in June 2015. The EGC ruled that there was no risk of confusion between the Greek product and the Cypriot traditional Halloumi cheese, for which the foundation owns an EU collective trademark. Under the collective community mark, halloumi is produced only in Cyprus with certain ingredients and production methods.