‘Greek’ is a Geographical Term, Not a Style

The Court of Appeal has concluded that a product description which contains a geographical term can constitute ‘passing off’ if the product does not in fact come from the place named.



The description of a product as ‘Greek’ (in this case Greek yoghurt) would give most consumers the impression that it was made in Greece. However, the manufacturer argued that ‘Greek’ in this context referred to a style of yoghurt, not its place of manufacture. The yoghurt referred to is actually made in the USA.



In the UK, labelling convention has been that yoghurt made in Greece is labelled ‘Greek yoghurt’. If it is the same style of yoghurt, but made in the UK, it is labelled ‘Greek style yoghurt’.



The case was brought by a company which sells Greek yoghurt, made in Greece, in the UK. It argued that ‘a valuable reputation of goodwill had been generated under and by reference to the phrase Greek yoghurt in the UK as denoting a product made in Greece and having particular qualities of thickness, creaminess, taste and satisfaction…’.



It claimed it owned a share in that goodwill which was being damaged by the importation and sale as ‘Greek yoghurt’ of the yoghurt from the USA.



In the High Court, the judge posed the question ‘whether a substantial part of the yoghurt eating public understood the expression “Greek yoghurt” in the same way as the way in which that expression was used in the labelling convention’ and concluded that it did. The case went to the Court of Appeal, which found that the lower court had asked the correct question and concurred with its conclusion.



The Court also agreed that the goodwill of the existing sellers of Greek yoghurt had been infringed. The injunction against use of the term Greek yoghurt to describe the US-made yoghurt was upheld.



This case does not mean that Welsh rarebit need come from Wales or that KFC must fry its chicken in Louisville, but it is clear that where the effect of the use of a geographical label is such that consumers may be misled as to the provenance of the item and this could affect their economic behaviour, problems may arise.