Cyprus has scored an important victory in its bid to protect halloumi as a traditional Cypriot cheese with a court in Greece prohibiting a Greek company from using the name. The case was brought by the “Foundation for the Protection of the Traditional Cyprus cheese, halloumi” against a company in Veria which was illegally using the name of halloumi to sell its products in Greece and abroad.
The court ruled in favour of the complaint brought by the Cypriot foundation saying that the use of the word halloumi could create confusion among consumers.
It issued an injunction temporarily prohibiting the company from using the name, imposed a fine and ordered all the products labeled halloumi to be confiscated The foundation will now press ahead with the main suit in Thesaloniki as regards the problems created by the sale of ‘fake’ halloumi in Greece and abroad. Cyprus is in the process of registering halloumi as a Protected Designation of Origin product (PDO) with the EU. Registering a PDO has numerous benefits for Cyprus, including the producers’ exclusive rights to use a registered name and EU logos on their packaging, protecting product names from misuse and helping producers obtain premium prices. –
Cyprus Weekly
