The European Court of Justice has ruled that the word ‘Grana’ should be protected as part of the origin designation ‘Grana Padano’.
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Grana is Italian for granular or hard cheeses, examples being Parmesan or Grana Padano, and the European Union’s Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) had earlier ruled that the word was generic and so available for other cheese producers.
This earlier decision followed Italian cheese producer Biraghi Spa’s application to register the trademark Grana Biraghi.
That application was resisted by the Consorzio per la tutela del formaggio Grana Padano, who claimed ‘Grana’ was associated with its cheeses.
And, in a case with legal consequences for food trademarks sporting commonly-used words, the ECJ court has backed its line, noting “systematic” seizures of cheeses named ‘grana’.”
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By GlobalData
