Luxembourg, 09/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - The court of Justice has published two press releases concerning:
a) the rejection of the appeal by the Netherlands against the European Commission for an annulment of the 1998 Community directive on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions. The Court says that it considers that the Community directive "frames patent legislation sufficiently rigorously for the human body to effectively remain unavailable and inalienable and for human dignity to be safeguarded"; b) the cheese "parmigiano reggiano". According to Advocate General Philippe Leger, a manufacturer of cheese may not exploit his geographic proximity to a place of production of a cheese benefiting from a Label Guaranteeing its Origin, even if the product is intended to be marketed exclusively in another Member State. The company Nuova Castelli, of Reggio Emilia, marketed a cheese under the name Parmesan that contained no "Parmigiano Reggiano" and that it exported mainly to France. Hauled before the Italian courts for fraud, its manager, Dante Bigi claimed that Community legislation to not allow Italy to prohibit the manufacture of a cheese called "parmesan", when it was exclusively exported and marketed in other EU Member States. For Philippe Leger, the protection of the name "Parmigiano Reggiano" is extended to its French translation "Parmesan".