The Ministry Of Energy, Commerce And Industry Of The Republic Of Cyprus v. Saputo Produits Laitiers Canada S.E.N.C. et al, 500-17-098048-179
2020-11-12
Read full decision. Summary prepared by Alan Macek:
The Ministry seeks a declaration that the defendants have breached these contracts, and it requests a permanent injunction preventing the defendants from making further use of HALOUMI on their packaging. ... In the Court’s view, the defendants are correct to argue that HALOUMI is not used on MAPI’s packaging so as to distinguish its goods from those of others. HALOUMI is not used as a trademark, but rather as a description of a kind of cheese, in the same manner that the words cheddar, mozzarella and brie describe types of cheese. ... In 2008, the Registrar of Trademarks determined that HALLOUMI was not registerable as a trademark. He pointed to evidence showing that for several years the words HALLOOM, HALOUMI and HALLOUM had been used by cheese producers in Canada to designate a type of cheese. (see 2010 FC 719 and 2011 FCA 201)