Designation "fresh cheese" for vegan bread spread?

Only recently, the EuGH decided (as we reported), that only animal products may be designated as "milk, cheese, butter or yoghurt". Use for purely plant-based products is not permitted. But what about the designation "like fresh cheese" for a vegan bread spread?

A company distributing, amongst other things, vegan bread spreads in various flavours was sued for injunctive relief. The products displayed the designation "soya-based bread spread" on their side labels and the text "like fresh cheese" on the lids of the packaging. The word "like" was printed in smaller typeface than the word "fresh cheese". In addition, the lid bore the statements "without milk", "from soya", "vegan" and "lactose-free".

The plaintiff is of the opinion that the use of the word "fresh cheese" for the vegan products is unfair competition.

The court's decision

The LG Konstanz ruled in favour of the plaintiff and ordered the food company to cease and desist by judgment of 22.06.2017 – Az. 7 O 25/16 KfH.

The court confirmed that the designation "cheese", in the EU, may generally only be used for products that are milk products, thus following the EuGH. However, the food company used the term "cheese" here for vegan foodstuffs. The fact that the products were labelled with "soya-based bread spread" and the addition "like" did not change the infringement. Consumers could nevertheless be misled if, based on the presentation, they assume it to be a milk product.

Furthermore, in the case of non-milk products, the impression must not be created that the product is a milk product.

Conclusion

Care must be exercised in the presentation of food products. We would be happy to provide you with legal advice on this matter.