In a judgment of 13 November 2025 (C-563/24), the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) clarified that the use of the mention “gin” for non-alcoholic gin is prohibited, even if accompanied by the mention “alcohol-free”
PB is a company that sells and promotes, among other things, a non-alcoholic beverage called “Virgin Gin Alkoholfrei” (“Virgin Gin alcohol-free”). VSW, a German association whose mission is to fight against unfair competition, brought an action against PB before a German national court seeking to prohibit the sale of the “Virgin Gin Alkoholfrei”, considering that PB’s advertising for its beverage infringes the provisions of Regulation 2019/787 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the definition, description, presentation and labelling of spirit drinks, the use of the names of spirit drinks in the presentation and labelling of other foodstuffs, the protection of geographical indications for spirit drinks, the use of ethyl alcohol and distillates of agricultural origin in alcoholic beverages.
Article 10(7) of Regulation 2019/787 provides that particular legal names for spirits, such as “gin”, cannot be used in the presentation and labelling of beverages that do not comply with specific requirements set out in Annex I of that Regulation. Such prohibition also applies where the legal name is combined with words or phrases such as “like”, “type”, “style”, “produced”, “flavour”, or any other similar indication. It offers thus an extended protection of these product names for spirits.
“Gin” is defined by Annex I of Regulation 2019/787 as a juniper-flavoured spirit drink produced by flavouring ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin with juniper berries, whose minimum alcoholic strength by volume of gin shall be 37,5 %.
The question arose whether the mention “gin” could be used in the presentation and labelling of “alcohol-free gin”.
Answering the request for a preliminary ruling, the Court held that if a beverage does not contain alcohol and is therefore not produced by flavouring ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, the legal mention “gin” cannot be used. The mention “alcohol-free” on the label is irrelevant, as the prohibition to use the name “gin” also applies where additional terms are used for the purpose of indicating that a given beverage must not be confused with the spirit drink covered by the name “gin”. This rule and prohibition thus apply independently of the question whether the use avoids the consumer to be confused. Referring to other exceptions, such as the possibility under articles 11 and 12 of Regulation 2019/787 to use the legal name as part of a compound term or make an allusion to it when selling product containing the spirit, will not help, as these exceptions apply solely to products containing alcohol, so with “real” gin and not with a non-alcoholic drink.
The Court further decided that the legal regime laid down in Regulation 2019/787 prohibiting the use of the legal name “gin” for products not complying with its product description is justified and proportionate to pursue objectives of general interest, such as the consumer protection and avoiding unfair competition. It does, of course, not prevent per se the production or, more generally, the distribution of non-alcoholic beverages that do not meet the requirements for spirits, be it under another name without reference to the spirit. Hence, the interference with the freedom to conduct a business is not disproportionate and the Regulation 2019/787 can be aligned with the TFEU.
Producers of “alcohol-free gin” have now been warned: the mention “gin” cannot appear on the labelling and presentation of their products, even when accompanied by the indication “alcohol-free”. The challenge will be to find another name for those refreshing beverages.
For any questions or assistance, please reach out to our Intellectual Property Team | IP@simontbraun.eu – +32 (0)2 543 70 80
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