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Can taste be protected?

Can taste be protected?

We have repeatedly mentioned that various types of products are subject to different forms of protection, such as logos as a trademark, and the shape and appearance of furniture as an industrial design. However, going further – can it be argued that taste is also subject to protection? If so, to what extent? In what category? The Court of Justice of the European Union recently addressed this issue in case C-310/17 (Levola Hengelo BV / Smilde Foods BV). It is worth noting that not only the parties to the dispute were awaiting the resolution of this case, but also a large number of companies and corporations in the food industry operating in the European Union. The case concerns a cream cheese spread with herbs, called "Heksenkaas," which was first produced by a Dutch company in 2007 (currently, the rights to the product belong to Levola). Almost seven years later, in 2014, a competing company, Smilde, began producing and supplying a similar cheese spread to Dutch supermarket chains, which it named "Witte Wievenkaas."

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Copyright on taste.

Recognizing the situation, the company Levola stated that Smilde, by producing its cheese, was infringing on its copyright to the flavor, and therefore filed a lawsuit in a Dutch court seeking an injunction to stop the production and sale of the competing product. Furthermore, the company argued that the cheese, despite having a different name, was a replication of the “Heksenkaas” cheese as a work.

The Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal, which was tasked with handling the case, referred the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union, asking whether the flavor of a food product can be protected under the copyright directive

The court will rule whether taste is subject to copyright.

In its judgment of November 13, 2018, the Court rejected the possibility of protecting the taste of a product under the same principles as those applicable to copyright works. The justification stated that taste could only be subject to copyright protection if such taste could be classified as a “work,” which would constitute the author’s original intellectual creation. In this case, the subject of protection must primarily be identifiable, taking into account the degree of precision and objectivity. Furthermore, the Court of Justice of the European Union stated that, unlike, for example, graphic, musical, literary, or cinematographic works, which are expressed in an objective and precise manner, the identification of the taste of a specific food product is based on the taste sensations and perceptions of each consumer, which are subjective and variable. Such perceptions depend primarily on age, eating habits, but also on the place and circumstances in which the food product is tasted. The current stage of scientific and technological development does not allow for the differentiation of tastes. Thus, the issue of taste protection has n resolved, which will certainly lead to dissatisfaction among many companies operating in the food industry, which, in the event of protection of this type for the products they offer, will have to forego taste protection.

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If taste could be expressed in an objective and precise way, it could be considered a work under copyright law.

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