The Community Trade Mark Appeal Court, in Judgment nº 419/13 of 31 October 2013, assessed the existence of an infringement of the Protected Designation of Origin “Queso Tetilla” by the unauthorized commercialization of cheeses reproducing the peculiar form of a female breast that gives name to this Designation of Origin. Already in the first instance of the proceedings, the Community Trademark Court, in Judgment nº 58/13 of 20 March 2013, considered the same type of unlawfulness in the use of the term “Mamiella” for the distinction of the controversial cheese.
The resolution of this case is a true novelty in the Law of Desigantions of Origin and Geographical Indications by extending the concept of evocation, which integrates the scope of protection of these rights, to cases in which the sign used by a third party does not present similarity with the protected expression and, above all, to the premise of reproduction of the external appearance of the product.
In a Judgement that fully accepts the claims of the Regulatory Board of the PDO “Queso Tetilla”, represented by Berenguer & Pomares abogados, the Appeal Court also appreciates the existence of unfair competition, infringement of various trademarks and declares the invalidity of the trademark “Mamiella Tres Oscos” used in the infringement, being the defendant company obliged to cease in the commercialization of this cheese and to remove from the market the existing products.
Many media have reported on the resolution of this case which is a real success for the protection of Geographical Indications.
