What a cheese: No misleading advertising when promoting a plant-based product as a “cheese alternative”

The designation of a plant-based product as a “cheese alternative” does not constitute an inadmissible designation as “cheese”. According to the decision of the Higher Regional Court of Celle, the product is merely placed in a relationship to the dairy product cheese, thereby making it sufficiently clear that it is not cheese, but something else – namely an alternative to cheese. The word combinations “tofu butter”, “plant-based cheese”, “veggie cheese” or “cashew cheese”, on the other hand, are misleading as they suggest to the consumer that the product is in any case also made from animal milk products(OLG Celle, decision of August 6, 2019, Ref.: 13 U 35/19).