The Greek state has been involved in a legal battle for decades in which it seeks to have the name of feta cheese declared of Hellenic origin, since, Several companies have cited their name on the product.
The dispute reached Chile, where a court rejected the registration of the name ‘feta’ by other companies, since it has a designation of origin for cheeses that has been associated with Greece since 2002. The ruling was issued by the Intellectual Property Institute, Inapi.
For its part, Consortium for Common Food Names Holdings wanted to register the brand ‘Feta Ccfn’ in the southern country; however, The Association of the Greek Dairy Industries, represented by the Greek Embassy in Chile, opposed this claim.
Additionally, the Ccfn maintained that it could register the product under that name, because theThe expression ‘feta’ is not registered in Chile, but in the European Union. Also, He pointed out that there is already an international market that recognizes the product; therefore, consumers would associate it with its business origin.
However, Ioannis Constantinidis, the sponsoring lawyer, He said that the name is protected in Chile thanks to the free trade agreement between that country and the European Union.
