Ornua Foods North America has filed a lawsuit against Old World Creamery for using the name “Irishgold” as its new brand name for locally produced butter.

The case is understood to surround a trademark infringement.

Kerrygold Irish butter was removed from all shops in Wisconsin earlier this year because of a law that requires that state regulators approve the food safety of butter made outside the US.

Kerrygold has been selling its butter in the US for over 15 years before local protectionist pressure led to the enforcement of this old law in Wisconsin.

Because Kerygold is graded, packaged and produced in Ireland retailers are banned from selling the butter in the state.

Ornua has filed a court document in the Eastern District Court of Wisconsin, stating “consumers wanting to purchase Irish butter will likely be misled into thinking that defendant’s Irish butter is the work around for selling Irish butter in Wisconsin and will purchase defendant's product thinking it is Kerrygold Irish butter.”

Ornua attempted to sort out the issue with Wisconsin Department of Agriculture by having its butter repackaged and graded at Weyauwega Cheese processing plant in Wisconsin, which set up Old World Creamery last year.

Ornua proposed Weyauwega Cheese would sell Kerrygold in packs of two four ounce sticks, a formula Ornua had used successfully in other US markets. Ornua shipped 40,000 pounds of Kerrygold butter to the plant where 417 cases of finished product were processed.

Eurogold was formed on 8 March 2017 and filed a federal trademark application for Irishgold on 14 March 2017.

Irishgold butter can now be bought in the states of Wisconsin and Illinois.

Ornua stated in a court document “the likelihood of confusion is also not accidental, Mr Knaus, owner of Weyauwega Cheese, cut off discussions and decided to sell butter using Eurogold’s obviously derivative Irishgold mark, using packaging substantially similar for Kerrygold Irish Butter.”

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, a spokesperson for Ornua said: “Ornua appreciates the opportunity to be heard on this matter and welcomes the Court’s issuance of a restraining order prohibiting the defendants from using trademarks that are confusingly similar to Ornua’s Kerrygold® trademarks.

“We look forward to a final resolution of this matter. As legal proceedings are still ongoing we cannot comment further at this time.”