01
The name
A registered cheese name can be used only by producers who follow its specification and are verified to do so.
CHEESE
A protected cheese name is not a style of cheese.
In adverts, online shops, marketplaces and domain names.
01 / 08The name
A protected cheese name is not a recipe
Single Gloucester, Staffordshire Cheese and Yorkshire Wensleydale are names on the UK GI scheme registers. A producer can make and sell a cheese under a registered name only by following its specification and being verified to do so.
02 / 08The advert
“Single Gloucester-style” still evokes the name
The rules protect a registered name against misuse, imitation and evocation, even when it comes with an expression such as “style”, “type” or “method”. The advert leans on a reputation that is not its own.
03 / 08The online shop
Saying where it comes from does not fix it
A specialist shop sells a cloth-bound cheese as “Staffordshire method”, made in another county, and says so. The protection applies even if the true origin of the product is indicated.
04 / 08The marketplace
Four listings, two misuses
The UK rules protect a registered name against any direct or indirect commercial use on products the registration does not cover. They do not single out online selling, and they make no exception for it. In the same results, the genuine cheese sits beside those that only borrow its name.
05 / 08The domain
The protected name, inside the web address
A shop puts Single Gloucester in its web address and sells cheeses made elsewhere. The UK rules say nothing specific about domain names; the EU regulation does, for all domain names accessible in the Union. Either way, the address shows the name being used to sell, and we record it as evidence.
06 / 08The rule
What article 13 prohibits
In Great Britain, assimilated Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 protects registered food names, cheese names among them, against any direct or indirect commercial use on products the registration does not cover, against any misuse, imitation or evocation, and against any other false or misleading indication, including in advertising material. Where a registered name contains a name considered to be generic, using that generic name is not contrary to the first two of those rules.
07 / 08Monitoring
VigiaLabs finds where the name appears
We check adverts, online shops, marketplaces and domain names for the protected name. Each finding is kept with its dated screenshot, the web address, the seller and the wording used.
08 / 08The case file
The evidence, ready to act on
The producer group receives the case file. With its authorisation, we alert the advertiser or the shop and notify the platform. The group can also inform the competent authority, which must take steps to prevent or stop the unlawful use of protected names marketed in Great Britain.
The name means origin again.
Description of each scene
- A protected cheese name is not a recipe. A browser window headed “Three names on the UK GI scheme registers” with three wedges of cheese: “Single Gloucester”, “Staffordshire Cheese” and “Yorkshire Wensleydale”, each labelled “Cheese”. A gold seal with the letters “GI” appears above each. On the right, under “What the name guarantees”, a large “GI” seal and the label “Origin and method, verified”.
- “Single Gloucester-style” still evokes the name. “single gloucester” is typed into the search engine. Two adverts appear: “Single Gloucester-style”, with “Next-day delivery · Made outside the area”, which is outlined in red, and “Single Gloucester PDO”, with “Made to the registered specification”. On the right, a card “What the advert says” with “Single Gloucester-style” and “Next-day delivery”, and below it the label “‘Style’ still evokes the name”.
- Saying where it comes from does not fix it. A product page in an online shop, under “Home › Cheese › Hard cheese”: a wedge of cheese, the title “Cloth-bound cheese Staffordshire method”, with “Staffordshire method” in red and underlined, the line “Origin: outside Staffordshire”, the price “£6.50” and the button “Add to basket”. On the right, three numbered labels appear: “Uses the name without the right”, “‘Method’ does not excuse it” and “Nor does stating the origin”.
- Four listings, two misuses. A marketplace, headed “Marketplace › Cheese › Crumbly cheese”, shows four listings for cheese: “Yorkshire Wensleydale PGI”, from Seller A, which receives a tick; “Yorkshire Wensleydale type”, from Seller B, and “Yorkshire-style Wensleydale”, from Seller C, which are outlined in red and marked with a cross; and “Crumbly cheese 200 g wedge”, from Seller D, with no mark. On the right, three numbered labels: “4 listings for the same product”, “2 use the name without the right” and “Any commercial use is covered”.
- The protected name, inside the web address. A large address bar, labelled “Shop address”, shows “singlegloucester-uk.example”, with “singlegloucester” in red, and is outlined in red. Below it, the shop on that domain: “Hard cheeses from £3.90” and three wedges of cheese. On the right, three numbered labels: “Protected name in the domain”, “Used to sell other cheeses” and “Recorded as evidence of use”.
- What article 13 prohibits. The marketplace listings, with their marks, and on the right a card “Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 · Article 13, as assimilated” with three rows that each receive a tick: “Commercial use on other products”, Prohibited; “Misuse, imitation or evocation”, Prohibited; and “False or misleading indications”, Prohibited.
- VigiaLabs finds where the name appears. The VigiaLabs lighthouse sweeps the marketplace listings and a capture dot appears on each one. A case file records four items: “Dated screenshot of each listing”, “Wording used: Wensleydale type”, “Seller and web address” and “Rule: art. 13, Reg. 1151/2012”, alongside “Screenshot · date · time · URL”.
- The evidence, ready to act on. Three paths lead from the case file to “Producer group”, “Advertiser” and “Platform”. “Case file with the evidence” appears, with “Notice to seller and platform” and “Follow-up until it is corrected”. In the window the three genuine cheeses return, each with its seal and a tick.
IN SHORT
A protected cheese name is not a recipe
Single Gloucester, Staffordshire Cheese and Yorkshire Wensleydale are names on the UK GI scheme registers. A producer can make and sell a cheese under a registered name only by following its specification and being verified to do so.
02
The advert
Adding “style”, “type” or “method” does not avoid the infringement: the name is still evoked.
03
The online shop
Stating the cheese’s true origin does not permit use of the name.
04
The marketplace
The UK rules cover any direct or indirect commercial use, with no exception for online listings.
05
The domain
The UK rules do not mention domain names; the EU regulation does. A web address is still evidence of how a name is used.
06
Monitoring
VigiaLabs searches for the name and keeps each finding with its evidence.
OUR APPROACH
Your reputation extends beyond your website.
What we examine
- Brand mentions and visuals
- Network membership claims
- Changes on observed pages
What you gain
Visibility into possible confusion affecting your brand and authorised partners.
- 01
VigiaLabs finds where the name appears
We check adverts, online shops, marketplaces and domain names for the protected name. Each finding is kept with its dated screenshot, the web address, the seller and the wording used.
- 02
What article 13 prohibits
In Great Britain, assimilated Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 protects registered food names, cheese names among them, against any direct or indirect commercial use on products the registration does not cover, against any misuse, imitation or evocation, and against any other false or misleading indication, including in advertising material. Where a registered name contains a name considered to be generic, using that generic name is not contrary to the first two of those rules.
- 03
The evidence, ready to act on
The producer group receives the case file. With its authorisation, we alert the advertiser or the shop and notify the platform. The group can also inform the competent authority, which must take steps to prevent or stop the unlawful use of protected names marketed in Great Britain.
WHO IT IS FOR
Whoever looks after a cheese name needs to see where it is sold.
The UK food names register lists 276 cheese names as PDOs or PGIs. Seventeen are of UK origin, 10 PDOs and 7 PGIs, Stilton Blue Cheese and Stilton White Cheese among them. The rest come from other countries and are protected in Great Britain all the same: Parmigiano Reggiano, Feta and Roquefort, for example.
01
Producer groups and trade associations
Know which adverts, shops and domains show the name and who is using it without following the specification. Under the food names regulation, a group is entitled to monitor the use of the name in trade, to inform the competent authority where necessary and to take action to ensure adequate legal protection of the name (assimilated Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, article 45).
02
Verified cheesemakers
Those who follow the specification and are verified compete with those who only borrow the name. The case file shows, case by case, what is offered, where and in what words. What is protected is the registered name: “Cheddar” on its own is not one. West Country Farmhouse Cheddar Cheese and Orkney Scottish Island Cheddar are, and when the first was registered in 1996 the regulation noted that protection of the name “Cheddar” was not sought.
03
Law firms and trade mark attorneys
Receive the facts already documented, with screenshot, date and web address, for a letter to the seller, a notice to the platform or a complaint to the enforcement body. For food names, an authorised officer can serve a compliance notice on anyone believed to be misusing, imitating or evoking a registered name; failing to comply can lead to a penalty of up to £40,000 (Quality Schemes (Agricultural Products and Foodstuffs) Regulations 2018, regulations 12 and 13).
WHAT THE COURTS HAVE SAID
Three rulings on how far a cheese name is protected.
Two were given by the Court of Justice of the European Union, in 2008 and 2019, before the United Kingdom left the EU; the third by the High Court in London, in 2024. The two EU rulings were given on the regulations that came before Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, whose article 13, as assimilated, protects food names in Great Britain today. The High Court ruling is about a trade mark, not a GI.
01
“Parmesan” evokes the name
Cheese that did not meet the specification for Parmigiano Reggiano was sold in Germany as “Parmesan”. In 2008 the Court of Justice dismissed the Commission’s action against Germany. In its reasoning, though, it found that the name “Parmesan” evokes the PDO Parmigiano Reggiano and that Germany had not shown the word to have become generic (Case C-132/05, paragraphs 49 and 57).
02
Pictures can evoke it too
Cheeses not covered by the PDO were sold with labels showing a figure like Don Quixote and landscapes with windmills and sheep. The Court of Justice held in 2019 that a registered name may be evoked through figurative signs, including where they are used by a producer from the same region whose cheeses are not covered by the name (Case C-614/17, “Queso Manchego”).
03
A trade mark is not a GI
Halloumi is not on the UK GI registers; the EU registered it as a PDO in April 2021. In the UK, the High Court recorded in 2024, the word has been a collective trade mark since 2000, owned by an association of producers. The court let two later marks that echo the word go on to registration. A collective mark, the judge said, is to be distinguished from a GI, and the word halloumi is overwhelmingly used to describe the cheese ([2024] EWHC 2311 (Ch)).
UK cheeses with a PDO
- West Country Farmhouse Cheddar Cheese
- Stilton Blue Cheese
- Stilton White Cheese
- Single Gloucester
- Beacon Fell Traditional Lancashire Cheese
- Staffordshire Cheese
- Dovedale Cheese
- Buxton Blue
- Bonchester Cheese
- Swaledale Ewes´ Cheese
UK cheeses with a PGI
- Yorkshire Wensleydale
- Traditional Welsh Caerphilly / Traditional Welsh Caerffili
- Orkney Scottish Island Cheddar
- Traditional Ayrshire Dunlop
- Dorset Blue Cheese
- Exmoor Blue Cheese
- Teviotdale Cheese
From other countries, protected in Great Britain
- Parmigiano Reggiano
- Grana Padano
- Gorgonzola
- Mozzarella di Bufala Campana
- Φέτα / Feta
- Roquefort
- Comté
- Camembert de Normandie
- Queso Manchego
- Gouda Holland
Official sources read on 7 October 2026. The figures are a count of the UK registers on that date.
Illustrative caseVL / QUESO
Marketplace › Cheese › Crumbly cheeseYorkshire Wensleydale PGISeller AYorkshire Wensleydale typeSeller BYorkshire-style WensleydaleSeller CCrumbly cheese 200 g wedgeSeller D
What the advert saysSingle Gloucester-styleNext-day delivery · Made outside the area
The rule
What article 13 prohibits
In Great Britain, assimilated Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 protects registered food names, cheese names among them, against any direct or indirect commercial use on products the registration does not cover, against any misuse, imitation or evocation, and against any other false or misleading indication, including in advertising material. Where a registered name contains a name considered to be generic, using that generic name is not contrary to the first two of those rules.
MonitoringWe check adverts, online shops, marketplaces and domain names for the protected name. Each finding is kept with its dated screenshot, the web address, the seller and the wording used.
- 01Dated screenshot of each listing
- 02Wording used: Wensleydale type
- 03Seller and web address
- 04Rule: art. 13, Reg. 1151/2012
PUTTING THE PLATFORM ON NOTICE
The platform decides. The case file puts on record that it was told.
Whether an ad is removed is the platform’s decision. A case file with dated, verifiable evidence puts on record that it was told. Under the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002, a host is not liable for what it stores while it has no actual knowledge that it is unlawful; once it knows, it keeps that protection only if it acts expeditiously to remove the information or disable access to it.
What a court looks at in a notice
- Whether it reached the provider through its published contact details
- The sender’s full name and address
- Where the information is
- Why it is unlawful
What a notice does not guarantee
No notice guarantees removal. Knowledge is judged ad by ad: the record does not make the platform liable for what it was never told about, and whether the protection is lost in a given case is for a court to decide.
- 01
A notice the platform can check
Each notice gives the exact address of the ad, explains why it is unlawful and attaches dated evidence that a third party can verify. The platform can assess the facts without investigating them itself.
- 02
A record of notices and replies
VigiaLabs keeps every notice sent and every decision of the platform, with their dates. If the ad comes back, it is documented again and added to the same record.
- 03
If the breach continues
The record shows what the platform was told and when. A court deciding whether the platform had actual knowledge takes into account the notices it received and what they contained.
- 04
If the platform does not act
VigiaLabs follows each notice until the platform decides. If the matter is to go to an authority or to court, you or your adviser take it there with the same record.
GLOSSARY
The terms and the sources, in plain view.
Every case is documented with sources and context. Scope is agreed for each market; the references on this page are to the law of the United Kingdom.
- PDO (protected designation of origin)
- The name of a product whose quality or characteristics are essentially or exclusively due to a particular geographical environment, and whose production steps all take place in the defined area.
- PGI (protected geographical indication)
- The name of a product whose quality, reputation or other characteristic is essentially attributable to its geographical origin, with at least one production step taking place in the defined area.
- GI (geographical indication)
- The name the UK schemes give to the protection as a whole. Cheese names are registered as PDOs or PGIs.
- Product specification
- The published document that sets out what the cheese is, where it is made and how. To use the name, a producer must follow it and be verified to do so.
- Evocation
- A term, image or sign that brings the protected product to the consumer’s mind, even though the registered name is not used in full.
- Generic name
- A name that has become the common name of a product, even though it relates to the place where the product was first made or sold. Generic terms cannot be registered, and where a registered name contains a name considered to be generic, using the generic name is not contrary to the protection. “Cheddar” on its own is not a registered name: West Country Farmhouse Cheddar Cheese and Orkney Scottish Island Cheddar are.
- Producer group
- An association, whatever its legal form, mainly made up of producers or processors working with the same product. Under the food names regulation, a group may monitor the use of the name in trade and inform the competent authority.
- Competent authority
- The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for the GI schemes in the UK. For food names, it must take steps to prevent or stop unlawful use in Great Britain.
- Compliance notice
- A written notice telling a business how it is misusing a protected food name and how to put it right. Failing to comply can lead to a penalty of up to £40,000.
- Assimilated regulation
- An EU regulation that still applies in Great Britain, as amended by UK legislation. The text in force is published on legislation.gov.uk.
- Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- The UK GI schemes protect registered names on products sold in Great Britain. In Northern Ireland, as in the EU, the EU GI schemes apply.
References
- Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 as assimilated, articles 3, 12, 13, 41 and 45 (legislation.gov.uk)
- Protected geographical food and drink names: UK GI schemes (GOV.UK)
- Using a protected geographical food or drink name: UK GI scheme rules (GOV.UK)
- Protected geographical food and drink names: UK registers (GOV.UK)
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1143, article 26 (EUR-Lex)
- Court of Justice, Case C-132/05, Commission v Germany, “Parmesan” (EUR-Lex)
- Court of Justice, Case C-614/17, “Queso Manchego” (EUR-Lex)
- High Court (Intellectual Property List), [2024] EWHC 2311 (Ch), “Halloumi” (The National Archives, Find Case Law)
- The Quality Schemes (Agricultural Products and Foodstuffs) Regulations 2018, regulations 12 and 13 (legislation.gov.uk)
- Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96, with its note on the name “Cheddar” (EUR-Lex)
- Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/591, registering Halloumi in the EU (EUR-Lex)
- Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002, regulation 19
- Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002, regulation 22
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Those who imitate a protected cheese gain an unfair advantage.
Adding “type” or “style” is enough to sell on the reputation of the cheesemakers who follow the specification. Monitoring where the name appears helps them to compete on equal terms.
Is it legal in Great Britain to sell a cheese as “Single Gloucester-style” or “Yorkshire Wensleydale type”?
No, if the registration does not cover the cheese. In Great Britain, article 13 of assimilated Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 protects registered food names, cheese names among them, against any misuse, imitation or evocation, even when the name comes with an expression such as “style”, “type” or “method”. The advert leans on a reputation that is not its own.
Can a label evoke a protected cheese without using its name?
Yes. The Court of Justice of the European Union held in 2019 that a registered name may be evoked through figurative signs, in a case of cheeses sold with labels showing a figure like Don Quixote and landscapes with windmills and sheep (Case C-614/17, “Queso Manchego”). The ruling was given before the United Kingdom left the EU, on the regulation that came before the one protecting food names in Great Britain today.
What can a producer group do about an online shop or a domain name that uses its cheese name?
Document it and act. VigiaLabs checks adverts, online shops, marketplaces and domain names and delivers the case file to the producer group. With its authorisation, we alert the advertiser or the shop and notify the platform. The group can also inform the competent authority, which must take steps to prevent or stop the unlawful use of protected names marketed in Great Britain.
My dairy is verified to make a protected cheese. How does it affect me when others use the name without the right to it?
They compete with you without following the specification. Single Gloucester, Staffordshire Cheese and Yorkshire Wensleydale are names on the UK GI scheme registers, and a producer can make and sell a cheese under a registered name only by following its specification and being verified to do so. The case file shows who uses the name, where and in what words.
What does VigiaLabs deliver when it finds a misuse?
One case file per finding, with its dated screenshot, the web address, the seller and the wording used. It is a set of evidence, not a ruling: the decision lies with the producer group, the platform or the authority that receives it.
What happens if the platform does not remove the reported ad?
The decision is the platform’s, but it is on record. VigiaLabs keeps every notice, with its dated evidence, and every reply. Under the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002, a host that has actual knowledge of unlawful information keeps its protection from liability only if it acts expeditiously to remove it. With that record, you or your adviser can take the matter to an authority or to court.
LET’S LOOK FURTHER
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