Arla Foods has been told to stop selling yoghurt sold using the name "skyr" in Finland following a legal challenge from Icelandic group MS Dairies.
A Finnish court backed MS Dairies' assertion the phrase was not a generic type of yoghurt but one of the company's trademarks.
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Arla said it disagreed with the ruling and was looking into whether to appeal.
"Generally, Arla firmly believes that skyr is a generic word that should not be monopolised by any single entity in any country. The fact that several other dairy companies and supermarkets are also marketing and selling skyr – in Finland as well as in other markets – in our view supports our position," Arla told just-food.
"Furthermore, the attempt of MS Dairies to monopolise the word skyr has so far failed – apart from in Finland – with other trademark authorities recognising that skyr is a generic product description, which cannot and should not be monopolised by one single entity."
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Arla sells yoghurt using the name skyr in markets including the UK. When the co-op launched the product in the UK this spring, it described skyr as a "fermented dairy product, originating from Iceland, where it has been produced for more than a thousand years".
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