Supreme Court Delivers Major Blow to Oatly in 'Milk' Terminology Dispute
The United Kingdom's highest court has delivered a significant legal setback to the prominent oat drink manufacturer Oatly, unanimously ruling against the company's use of the word "milk" to describe certain plant-based products. This landmark decision represents a substantial victory for the British dairy industry, which has been engaged in a protracted legal battle with the Swedish company over trademark validity.
The Long-Running Legal Battle Over Terminology
The dispute centred specifically on Oatly's "Post Milk Generation" trademark, which the company sought to register for use on various oat-based products including milk alternatives, yoghurt, and custard, as well as promotional t-shirts. The legal journey saw multiple reversals across different judicial levels, beginning when the Intellectual Property Office initially deemed the trademark invalid in January 2023.
Oatly successfully challenged this decision in the High Court later that year, with Mr Justice Richard Smith ruling in December 2023 that the phrase "post milk generation" did not market products "as any particular product, let alone as milk." However, this victory proved temporary when the Court of Appeal overturned the High Court decision in November 2024, finding that oat-based food and drink did not qualify as permitted "designations" of milk under existing regulations.
Supreme Court's Unanimous Verdict
On Wednesday, a panel of five Supreme Court justices delivered a definitive unanimous verdict, confirming the trademark's invalidity. The justices, including Lords Hodge, Briggs, Stephens, Hamblen and Burrows, concluded that the trademark failed to clearly describe any characteristic of the contested products.
In their detailed ruling, the justices stated: "We consider that it is far from clear that this trademark is describing any characteristic of the contested products. Rather, on its face, it is focused on describing the targeted consumers and, in particular, those younger consumers who may be said to belong to a generation for whom there are, in contrast to past generations, widespread concerns about the production and consumption of milk."
The court further emphasized that even if "post milk generation" could be interpreted as referring to milk-free characteristics, "that characteristic is not being described 'clearly'" as required by law.
Industry Reactions and Implications
Following the ruling, Bryan Carroll, general manager for Oatly UK & Ireland, expressed profound disappointment, stating that the decision "creates unnecessary confusion and an uneven playing field for plant-based products." Carroll argued that prohibiting the trademarking of the slogan "Post Milk Generation" for use on Oatly products in the UK represents "a way to stifle competition and is not in the interests of the British public."
The legal framework governing this dispute specifies that designations of "milk" and "milk products" can only be used for certain specific products, creating a regulatory environment that has now been firmly interpreted to exclude plant-based alternatives from using traditional dairy terminology. This ruling establishes a significant precedent that will likely influence future cases involving plant-based product labelling and marketing across the United Kingdom.
The decision represents the culmination of a legal process that began when Oatly first applied to trademark the phrase "Post Milk Generation" in 2019, with registration occurring in April 2021 before Dairy UK challenged its validity. The dairy industry's successful argument hinged on the claim that the phrase failed to adequately clarify the product's milk-free nature, instead referring primarily to a specific demographic of consumers.
