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EU General Court: Decides on Wednesday on BBQLOUMI and GRILLOUMI marks

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The appeals filed by the Foundation for the Protection of the Traditional Cheese of Cyprus Called “Halloumi”

Γεν. Δικαστorριο ΕΕπ ? α BBQLOUMI και GRILLOUMI

On Wednesday, May 3, the decisions of the General Court of the European Union are expected to be announced for two appeals filed by the Foundation for the Protection of the Traditional Cheese of Cyprus Called “Halloumi” against the use of the BBQLOUMI and GRILLOUMI trademarks by companies in Bulgaria and Sweden.

According to the agenda of the General Court of the EU, which has its headquarters in Luxembourg, the decisions concern the cases “Foundation for the Protection of the Traditional Cheese of Cyprus Called “Halloumi” v. EUIPO – M. J. Dairies (BBQLOUMI)” (T-106 /22) and “Foundation for the Protection of the Traditional Cheese of Cyprus Called “Halloumi” v. EUIPO – Fontana Food (GRILLOUMI)” (T-168/22).

The cases were filed against the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the two companies on 24 February and 30 March 2022 by the Foundation (which was created in 2013 by the Republic of Cyprus and the Cyprus Dairy Industry Organization as the body undertaking the protection of the product from imitations and its promotion abroad).

The first appeal concerns case T-106/22 Foundation for the Protection of the Traditional Cheese of Cyprus named Halloumi v. EUIPO – M. J. Dairies (BBQLOUMI) and concerns a product produced by a company with based in Bulgaria.

The company applied for registration of the word mark BBQLOUMI on 22 May 2014, and the said mark was registered as an EU trade mark on 24 September 2014. In September 2019, the Foundation for the Protection of the Traditional Cheese of Cyprus Called “Halloumi” applied for cancellation of the EUIPO mark in question, based on the earlier EU collective mark HALLOUMI, which was registered in July 2000.

The application for annulment was rejected in its entirety by the Invalidity Division of the EUIPO in February 2021. In April of the same year, the Foundation appealed against the decision of the Invalidity Division, which the Appeals Division of the EUIPO rejected, on the grounds that there was no risk of confusion between the marks as their degree of similarity was very low.

In this context, the Foundation filed an annulment appeal against the decision on 24 February 2022 before the GDEE.

The second appeal concerns the case T-168/22 Foundation for the Protection of the Traditional Cheese of Cyprus named Halloumi v. EUIPO – Fontana Food (GRILLOUMI) and concerns a product produced by a company based in Sweden. In February 2017 the Foundation filed a trade mark opposition based on the earlier EU collective mark HALLOUMI.

The opposition was rejected by the EUIPO Opposition Division in May 2018. Two months later, the Foundation appealed against the decision. However, in May 2019, by a decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal of the EUIPO, the opposition appeal of the Foundation was rejected as unfounded, on the grounds that the goods and services protected by the marks in question were different.

The decision of the Fourth Appellate Division was vacated on April 21, 2021 after the Foundation's annulment appeal was filed in September 2019. The appeal was then remanded to the Fifth Appellate Division, which dismissed the appeal.

In this context, the Foundation appealed to the GDEE to annul the decision of the Fifth Department on March 30, 2022.

Source: www.kathimerini.com.cy

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