Australia rejects Cyprus’s trademark challenge against Lactalis over Panoumi cheese
Lactalis, the French dairy group, markets Panoumi as a cheese with features of both paneer and halloumi. The company operates a large dairy-processing plant in North Bendigo, Victoria. In rejecting Cyprus’s arguments, the Australian trademark authority determined that halloumi did not denote a particular geographical origin for Australian trademark purposes.
The company submitted its application on June 26th 2024, seeking protection for cheese, dairy products and associated goods under number 2460151. The publicly available trademark record continues to show the status as “Accepted: Opposed”. Cyprus’s challenge formed part of its efforts to protect the halloumi name against the commercial use of similar names in Australia.
A separate case concerned Grilloumi. In Department of Agriculture of the Republic of Cyprus v Fontana Food AB [2026] ATMO 164, the same authority dismissed Cyprus’s opposition to registering that name for dairy products and cheese. The hearing officer concluded that consumers in Australia understood halloumi to be a cheese variety. The evidence, however, did not demonstrate the reputation as a trademark needed to block registration under the applicable Australian legal provisions.
Within the EU, halloumi received Protected Designation of Origin status in 2021. Those rules limit use of the name to cheese made in Cyprus in accordance with specified production requirements. Australian dairy producers, which have manufactured and sold halloumi-style cheeses for many years, expressed concern about that designation. Following a legal challenge by dairy producers, the EU General Court upheld the protection in February 2024. EU protections do not extend automatically to Australia.
Halloumi was also omitted from the first list of geographical indications covered by the free-trade agreement between Australia and the EU announced in March 2026. According to the European Commission, the list had been drawn up in 2019, before halloumi obtained EU-wide protection two years later. The agreement includes a procedure through which further geographical indications can be considered for inclusion.
Access to the Australian market has been a longstanding issue for Cyprus, which previously sought the removal of duties on its halloumi exports to the country. The broader trade agreement has also prompted questions about protections for traditional Greek food names, including changes affecting the right to use the feta name in Australia.
Halloumi is among Cyprus’s principal traditional exports and is closely connected with its agricultural economy, food traditions and cultural identity. Cypriot communities in Australia also celebrate that connection through events including the Halloumi Festival.
