CONSORZIO DEL FORMAGGIO PARMIGIANO REGGIANO
SUCCESSFULLY DEFENDS PARMIGIANO AGAINST INFRINGEMENT
SYRACUSE, NY AND REGGIO EMILIA, ITALY November 15, 2005
For the fourth time in a decade the Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano-Reggiano has successfully protected its prestigious geographical indication (GI), Parmigiano, from infringement and has defended its incontestable certification marks for cheese in theU.S. District Courts.
After months of good faith negotiations, the Consorzio, the certifier of Parmigiano Reggiano® cheese produced in Italy, and Blaser’s USA, a repackager of dehydrated grated cheese in Wisconsin, have agreed to a settlement of their litigation. Blaser’s has agreed to be permanently enjoined from the use of the term Parmigiano, as well as the terms Reggiano, Parmigiano Reggiano, or any colorable imitation or likeness of those
terms, for cheese that is not certified by the Consorzio.
The Consorzio’s lawsuit was a part of its ongoing efforts to safeguard the use of the Parmigiano Reggiano marks, to increase consumer awareness of the cheese, and to eliminate potential marketplace confusion for importers, distributors, retailers,
restaurateurs and consumers between Parmigiano Reggiano and other very hard grating cheeses which do not meet the Consorzio’s stringent requirements for certification.
In 1934, the Consorzio was established to regulate the production, control quality and coordinate marketing for producers of this cheese. Then in 1955, Italian law designated
the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia and Modena in their entirety, and portions of the provinces of Bologna to the west of the Reno River and Mantua to the east of the Po River as a controlled cheese making district legally linking Parmigiano Reggiano to its geographic place of origin. In 1996 Parmigiano Reggiano was given Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status by the European Union, further enhancing its global
GI.
Because of stringent Italian and European Union laws governing Parmigiano Reggiano and the fact that the Consorzio is a holder of several incontestable certification mark registrations granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the Consorzio has taken its role seriously as the primary defender of its certification marks. Parmigiano means “of or from Parma”, and Reggiano means “of or from Reggio.” Parma and Reggio [Emilia] are two cities in north central Italy at the geographic heart of the production of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, and these two names identify for consumers worldwide the origin of this famous Italian product. “For eight hundred years consumers have come to rely on the high quality, exceptional nutritional value, and all-natural wholesomeness of our cheese,” said Andrea Bonati, president of the Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano-Reggiano. “Our name is our customer’s guarantee of these attributes, and the Consorzio will continue its global
defense.”
Chef2Chef News Desk