“Gruyère” is a common name for cheese in the USA. It does not only apply to the specialty Gruyère cheese from Switzerland or France. This was confirmed by a US appeals court on Friday.
A US milk export association had resisted the 2013 recognition of the “Gruyère” brand in the USA. The Swiss industry organization Interprofession du Gruyère (IPG) and the French counterpart Syndicat Interprofessionnel du Gruyère did not accept this, but lost in the first instance at the beginning of 2022.
The judges of an appeals court have now confirmed this decision. In the US, there is not the same protection for food designations as in Europe, they argued in their judgment. The US Food Safety Authority, the FDA, does set criteria for Gruyère, for example it must have “small holes” or it must have matured for at least 90 days. However, you do not make any criteria for geographical origin.
In addition, “cheese, no matter where it was produced, has been labeled and sold as Gruyère in the USA for decades”. And regardless of whether it was manufactured in the US state of Wisconsin or imported from the Netherlands, Germany or Austria, according to the judges.
It is clear from the case that “cheese consumers in the US understand that the term ‘Gruyère’ refers to a type of cheese, making the term generic.”
The decision was welcomed by several US dairy industry stakeholders, including the US Dairy Producers Association. They hoped that the Swiss and French would now stop trying to expropriate a generic designation by entering it in the trademark register.
According to their lawyer, IPG and Syndicat Interprofessionnel du Gruyère are disappointed: “We believe that the actual situation on the US market is different than described by the Court of Appeal and we will continue our efforts to protect the certification mark for the quality product Gruyère AOP in the USA continue vigorously,” said Richard Lehv in a statement sent to AFP news agency.
After losing the first instance last year, IPG regretted that the Swiss Gruyère had to compete with a product that “has the same name but is completely different”. The Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG) also regretted the decision, which could only harm the entire industry.