On 17 September 2015, Interprofession du Gruy\u00e8re (IDG), a Swiss registered association, and Syndicat Interprofessionnel du Gruy\u00e8re (SIG), a French syndicate, filed an application for a standard character certification mark for GRUY\u00c8RE, claiming first use as early as 1982. IDG is also the owner of the certification mark No 4398395 for LE GRUY\u00c8RE SWITZERLAND AOC\u2019 (design), registered in 2013. In its certification, the mark indicates that the cheese originates in the Gruy\u00e8re region in Switzerland and lists the various cantons and districts of origin. The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), US Dairy Export Council (USDEC), Atalanta Corporation (\u2018Atalanta\u2019), and Intercibus Inc (\u2018Intercibus\u2019) (collectively \u2018the Opposers\u2019) filed notices of opposition alleging that IDG and SIG had failed to exercise legitimate control over the proposed certification mark. Hence, \u2018GRUY\u00c8RE\u2019 would be incapable of functioning as a certification mark under Sections 4 and 45 of the Trademark Act, 15\u2009USC section 1052(e)(1).
The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (\u2018the Board\u2019) concluded that US consumers of cheese understand the term \u2018gruy\u00e8re\u2019 as a designation that primarily refers to a type of cheese that can come from anywhere, and not specifically from Switzerland or France. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","category_biblio":[56,177,180],"class_list":["post-4579","bibliography","type-bibliography","status-publish","hentry","category_biblio-geographical-indications-it","category_biblio-intellectual-property-it","category_biblio-quality-schemes-it"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n