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In the Aldi v. Comité Champagne case, the Munich Higher Regional Court prohibited the use of the Champagne designation of origin for a sorbet. Since it contains champagne but has no detectable champagne flavour, the Comité Champagne sued for an injunction. The case went all the way to the European Court of Justice, which issued the following directive
"In determining whether the ingredient in question confers an essential quality on the foodstuff in question, the quantity of the ingredient present in the foodstuff constitutes an important but not a sufficient criterion". The Court of Justice in Luxembourg made the use of the name dependent on "whether the product has a taste which is mainly due to the presence of champagne (...)". The Higher Regional Court in Munich now ruled that in this case there was an abuse of the reputation of a protected designation of origin.
(al / Photo: Comité Champagne)