The Dutch are known for making world famous cheese, among many
other things! Recently, two Dutch cheese companies indulged in a
legal battle over the Taste of
cheese. The two companies were, Levola
and Smilde. Levola sold Heksenkaas which
means "witches' cheese," and is a cream cheese spread
with fresh herbs that was created in 2007, whereas Smilde produced
and sold the cheese spread called Witte
Wievenkaas wherein 'witte' refers to
white and 'wieven' refers to wives which is used
as a referance to 'witch of ghosts'. Therefore the element
'HEKSEN' and 'WITTE WIEVEN' have a similar meaning,
and a strong conceptual similarity.
It was alleged by Levola that the cheese spread produced by
Smilde tasted very similar to their product and thus violated the
copyrights of Levola. Levola stated that copyright in taste refers
to the 'overall sensation' caused by the consumption of the
product. Levola prayed to the District Court of Netherlands to pass
an injunction against
