American-made cheese can still be called ‘gruyère,’ a court ruled, and cheese makers in France and Switzerland aren’t happy

Gruyère is the most popular Swiss in .Annick Vanderschelden/

  • “Gruyère” can be used for cheeses produced in the United States, an appeals court ruled.

  • It’s a victory for dairy groups in the US, but French and Swiss -makers aren’t happy.

  • They’ve promised to “vigorously pursue” their efforts to protect the name.

The term “gruyère” can be used for cheeses produced outside of the Gruyère region of , a US appeals court ruled Friday.

It’s a victory for dairy groups in the US, but cheese-makers in and France aren’t happy.

Gruyère is a firm yellow cheese named after the town of Gruyères in , Switzerland, where it originated.

The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, concluded that “gruyère” is a common label for cheese sold in the US and can’t be restricted to cheese from a specific region. It upheld an earlier ruling by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

“Cheese – regardless of its location of production – has been labeled and sold as gruyère in for decades,” the court said in its ruling. “Cheese consumers in the United States understand ‘gruyère’ to refer to a type of cheese, which renders the term generic.”

Dairy groups from France and Switzerland — the Swiss Interprofession du Gruyère and the French Syndicat Interprofessionel du Gruyère — say they’re “disappointed” to have lost their bid to restrict the name to cheeses from the region of Gruyère.

“We believe that the actual situation in the US market is different from what the Court of Appeal described,” the groups’ Richard Lehv told the news agency Agence France-Presse. He promised that they would “vigorously pursue” their efforts to protect the name.

Krysta Harden, president of the , called the ruling an “outstanding result for manufacturers and farmers here in the United States,” per Reuters.

Cheese names have long been a bone of contention. In the US “parmesan” cheese has become…

..

Read More