The General Court of the European Union is expected to decide in April or May on two appeals submitted by the Foundation for the Protection of the Traditional Cheese named Halloumi against the use of word marks BBQLOUMI and GRILLOUMI by companies in Bulgaria and Sweden, according to a press release by the Luxembourg-based Court of the EU.

The two cases, currently under consideration by the General Court of the EU, were launched against the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the two companies on February 24th and March 30th this year by the Foundation for the Protection of the Traditional Cheese named Halloumi (which was set up in 2013 by the Republic of Cyprus and the Cyprus Dairy Products Manufacturers Association).

The first case (T-106/22) was brought against EUIPO and M. J. Dairies, based in Bulgaria. The company had asked for BBQLOUMI to be registered in May 2014, and its application was accepted in September of the same year. The Foundation originally appealed seeking cancellation of the registration in September 2019.

The second case (T-168/22) was brought against EUIPO and Fontana Food based in Sweden. The Foundation had originally launched opposition proceedings against the registration of GRILLOUMI in February 2017.