- within Intellectual Property topic(s)
The Supreme Court has decided that the term ‘milk' cannot be used to advertise plant-based milks.
On 11 February 2026, the Supreme Court handed down its judgment in a long-running dispute between Oatly, a well-known Swedish producer of plant milks, and Dairy UK, a UK based trade association.
In April 2021, Oatly registered the trade mark ‘post-milk generation' – a slogan used to market its oat-based food and drink products. However, in November 2021, Dairy UK objected to Oatly's registration of this mark at the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO), arguing that Oatly's registration was invalid under section 3 of the Trademarks Act 1994 – in other words, that the trade mark was deceptive.
Section 3 of the Act sets out the grounds for absolute refusal of trade mark registrations and sections 3(3)(b) and 3(4), in particular, prevent trade marks from being registered if they are “of such a nature as to deceive the public (for instance as to the nature, quality or geographical origin of the goods or service)” or “…if or to the extent that its use is prohibited in the UK by any enactment or rule other than law relating to trade marks”.
Dairy UK claimed that the trade mark was deceptive because it used the word ‘milk' to describe goods that did not include any milk. They also argued that, under UK regulations, some specific terms, including milk, cheese, and other food products, can only be used to describe goods that actually contain the relevant products. Milk originates from animals, and therefore plant-based milks cannot be labelled as milk.
The dispute between Oatly and Dairy UK was ultimately escalated to the Supreme Court earlier this month. The Supreme Court held that the phrase ‘post-milk generation' could confuse consumers into whether the milk product is genuinely milk free, has a low milk content, or contains actual milk derived from animals. In its decision, the Supreme Court made specific reference to “younger consumers” whose generation may be said to have “widespread concerns about the production and consumption of milk”. While Oatly cannot use the term ‘milk' in relation to food items, it can, interestingly, still use the phrase “post-milk generation” on non-food items, like T-shirts.
Now that the Supreme Court has published its judgment, it will be interesting to see if there will be a shift in how manufacturers of dairy alternative products approach brand management and marketing strategies moving forward.
To read more about this case and its background prior to reaching the Supreme Court, please do check out our previous commentary here.
This article was co-authored by Trainee Chloe Jenkins.
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