Hours before the court deadline, John & Pascalis have offered to drop their cases in the UK and EU, if Cyprus acknowledges that cheese products such as flavoured, light, or burger-shaped Halloumi can be legally traded under the Halloumi brand.
Wednesday marks a milestone for the traditional Cypriot cheese, as it is the last day on which the British company objecting to Cyprus’ attempts to re-register Halloumi as a national trademark in the UK can withdraw their case.
Cyprus lost its halloumi trademark in the UK last November on technical grounds, due to a blunder by the government, Nicosia was late in making its case in the UK courts, failing to fend off UK based John & Pascalis claim to cancel the trademark.
In effect, the competent authority, the Commerce Ministry, had failed to present the country’s case in a timely manner with UK courts having no other option than annulling the trademark.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in cooperation with the Legal Service, has sent all supportive documents responding to the same company’s request to the EU Intellectual Property Organization (EUIPO) for the cancellation Cyprus’ Halloumi trademark, which is admittedly, the country’s last defence to keep Halloumi registered as a Cypriot product.
If lost, Halloumi can be produced by producers anywhere in the world.
According to statements made by Alexandros Iordanous, consultant to John & Pascalis, the company has filed objections to Cyprus’ request for re-registering Halloumi as a Cypriot trademark in the UK and pressed for cancellation of the EU trademark.
It claims that the Cyprus government is failing to take the necessary measures to ensure that the trademark is used in accordance with its Terms of Use.
The Cyprus Dairy Producers Association has urged the two sides to meet halfway on some aspects but agree that chili-flavoured Haloumi should be ruled out.
George Petrou, president of the association, was quoted by CNA saying that the ministry could agree to products which are not folded the traditional way or exceed the maximum weight of 300 gr to be labelled as Halloumi.
Ministry sources told CNA, that the company has tried to convince them to accept products which do not comply to the standards set for the traditional cheese, labelled as Halloumi.
The sources claimed that the Ministry could not concede to such a demand as this would undermine the government’s efforts to register Halloumi as a Product or Designated Origin (PDO) with the European Union.
They believe a plot is afoot which aims at making Halloumi a generic product, allowing producers anywhere in the world to produce the distinctive white cheese.
According to statistics, Halloumi exports to Britain are on the rise, increasing by 15.5% in the first quarter, compared to the same period last year.
