UK Supreme Court Bars Oatly From Using Word ‘Milk’ To Market Plant Based Products In UK.

London; February 2026: The Swedish-based drinks manufacturer Oatly has been banned from using the word “milk” to market its plant-based products, after a ruling by the UK supreme court. The Oat-milk manufacturer has been in a long-running legal battle with the trade association Dairy UK after Oatly trademarked phrases associated with the dairy sector.

On Wednesday the Supreme Court of United Kingdom has unanimously ruled that Oatly can no longer trademark, or use, the slogan “Post Milk Generation”. “It has taken the highest court in the land to decide once and for all whether a plant-based milk alternative can be branded as ‘milk’ and marketed as such”, said Laurie Bray, a senior associate and trademark attorney at the European intellectual property company Withers & Rogers. “And the outcome is not what Oatly was hoping for”.

The UK Supreme Court eventually said that “milk” can only refer to the stuff that is squirted out of a cow, or other mammal. Regulations state that certain terms can be used only to denote the actual products they describe, such as milk, wine and olive oil. Milk is defined as coming from the dairy sector and, more specifically, animals.

However, Oatly, which first filed a trademark application for the term “Post Milk Generation” with the UK’s Intellectual Property Office in 2019, which was registered officially in 2021, had argued that the use of the term “milk” in a trademark did not breach regulations if it was not being used in a descriptive manner.

In 2023, after an objection from Dairy UK, the IPO ruled that the use of the word “milk” in this way was “deceptive”; Oatly successfully appealed against the ruling in December 2023, but that decision was then overturned by the court of appeal, prompting it to take the issue to the supreme court.

“This ruling is an important decision for the sector as it finally provides clarity on how dairy terms can, and cannot be used in branding and marketing”, said the Dairy UK chief executive, Judith Bryans. “It brings greater certainty for businesses and helps ensure that long-established dairy terms continue to carry clear meaning for consumers, while allowing appropriate descriptors to be used where the law permits”.

Despite the defeat handed down by the UK’s highest court, Oatly remained defiant, saying that the ruling was anti-competitive and not good for the British public. “This decision creates unnecessary confusion and an uneven playing field for plant-based products that solely benefits Big Dairy”, said Bryan Carroll, the general manager for Oatly UK & Ireland. “In our view prohibiting the trademarking of the slogan ‘Post Milk Generation’ for use on our products in the UK is a way to stifle competition and is not in the interests of the British public”.

The supreme court ruling has wider ramifications for producers of plant-based alternatives, and Oatly’s trademark registrations in other European countries could now be challenged by equivalent trade bodies to Dairy UK. The same regulations apply to terms that are derived from other milk-based products such as cream, butter, cheese and yoghurt.

“For plant-based producers the safer course is to use clearly descriptive alternatives such as ‘oat drink’, or ‘plant-based drink’,” said Richard May, a partner at Osborne Clarke. “More broadly, the judgment signals that UK regulators and courts are likely to take a robust approach to so-called ‘category borrowing’ across regulated sectors. Businesses building brands around legally defined product names, whether in dairy or elsewhere, should expect careful scrutiny and plan their brand strategy accordingly”.

Earlier, on 14th June, 2017 – the European Court had ruled that Plant-based foods cannot be sold in the European Union using terms such as milk, butter and cheese, the European Court of Justice has ruled. The ECJ was ruling in a case referred to it by a German court and involving German food company Tofu Town. The company sells plant-based products with names including “Soyatoo Tofu Butter” and “Veggie Cheese”.

It said customers were not misled, because their products’ plant origins were clear. Since December 2013 EU regulations have stated that designations such as milk, butter, cheese cream and yogurt can only be used for marketing and advertising products which are derived from animal milk. There are some exceptions. Coconut milk is allowed, for example, as are peanut butter, almond milk and ice cream. However, soya and tofu are not exempted.

Team Maverick.