By Aude Mahy, Garance Dekeyser

In its opinion dated 25 July 2018, the Advocate-General advised the CJEU to not allow the flavour of a food product, i.e. the taste of a spreadable cheese in the case at hand, to be protected by copyright.

Levola Hengelo BV (“Levola”) filed an action against Smilde Foods BV (“Smilde”) for copyright infringement. According to Levola, Smilde breached its copyright on the “Heksenkaas”, a spreadable cheese, by producing another spreadable cheese, the “Witte Wievenkaas”, which would allegedly have the same taste.