The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that a non-alcoholic drink cannot be marketed as 'gin', even if the label specifies 'sans alcool'.
In a judgment issued on Thursday, the court confirmed that EU law reserves the name 'gin' exclusively for a specific spirit containing at least 37.5% alcohol.
The aim, the court said, is to protect consumers from confusion and to shield producers of genuine gin from unfair competition.
The case reached the EU court after a German competition watchdog asked a regional court to ban the sale of a product marketed as 'Virgin Gin Alkoholfrei', produced by the company PB Vi Goods.
The German court must now issue a final decision in line with the EU ruling.
