Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The ruling will have implications for cheese producers across the EU 
 
 The taste of a food cannot be protected by copyright, the EU's highest legal authority has ruled in a case involving a Dutch cheese. 
 
 The European Court of Justice said the taste of food was too "subjective and variable" for it to meet the requirements for copyright protection. 
 
 The court was asked to rule in the case of a spreadable cream cheese and herb dip, Heksenkaas, produced by Levola. 
 
 Levola argued another cheese, Witte Wievenkaas, infringed its copyright. 
 
 The firm claimed that Heksenkaas was a work protected by copyright; it asked the Dutch courts to insist Smilde, the producers of Witte Wievenkaas, cease the production and sale of its cheese. 
 
 The Court of Justice of the European Union was asked by Netherlands' court of appeal to rule on whether the taste of a food could be protected under the Copyright Directive. 
 
 Kit Kats, Tofu and Champagne 
 
 In its judgement, the European court said that, in order to qualify for copyright, the taste of a food must be capable of being classified as a "work" and it had to meet two criteria: 
 
 That it was an original intellectual creation 
 
 That there was an "expression" of that creation that makes it "identifiable with sufficient precision and objectivity" 
 
 The court found that "the taste of a food product cannot be identified with precision and objectivity". It said it was "identified essentially on the basis of taste sensations and experiences, which are subjective and variable", citing age, food preferences and consumption habits as examples which could influence the taster. 
 
 "Accordingly, the court concludes that the taste of a food product cannot be classified as a 'work' and consequently is not eligible for copyright protection under the directive," it concluded. 
 
 Heksenkaas was originally created in 2007 by a Dutch vegetable producer and sold to Levola in 2011. Smilde began producing Witte Wievenkaas in 2014 for a Dutch supermarket chain. 
 
 This is not the first time the European Court of Justice has had to rule on food - and drink - produce: ||||| A Dutch cheese company tried to claim that it had a monopoly on the taste of a cheese spread. The Court of Justice of the European Union weighed arguments from two competing food producers, and decided on Tuesday that a taste cannot be copyrighted. 
 
 Taste is “an idea,” rather than an “expression of an original intellectual creation,” the court ruled. And something that cannot be defined precisely cannot be copyrighted, it ruled. 
 
 Why is Europe’s highest court ruling on taste? 
 
 The case was brought in the Netherlands, but it had been referred to the European court to make a ruling that would apply across the bloc. Levola Hengelo, a Dutch food producer, had sued Smilde Foods, another Dutch manufacturer, for infringing its copyright over the taste of a cheese spread. 
 
 The Levola product, known as Heks’nkaas, or Witches Cheese, is made of cream cheese and herbs and vegetables including parsley, leek and garlic. Smilde’s herbed cheese dip, which contained many of the same ingredients, was called Witte Wievenkaas, a name that also makes reference to witches. It is now sold as Wilde Wietze Dip.
– You can copyright lots of things, but not the way food tastes. That's according to the European Court of Justice, which was asked to rule on a case involving spreadable Dutch cheeses. Food producer Levola Hengelo, which began selling cream cheese and herb dip Heks'nkaas in 2011, argued the Witte Wievenkaas cheese offered by Smilde Foods beginning in 2014 infringed Heks'nkaas’ copyright with its similar taste, reports the BBC and New York Times. The court wasn't having it, however, ruling that taste doesn't fit the definition of a copyrighted work: an intellectual creation "identifiable with sufficient precision and objectivity." Taste is "subjective and variable," therefore it can't be protected, the court said. "It's a discrimination of senses that something you can taste with your mouth is not protectable by copyright," says Heks'nkaas CEO Michel Wildenborg. The court disagreed. Taste depends on "factors particular to the person tasting the product concerned, such as age, food preferences and consumption habits, as well as on the environment or context in which the product is consumed," it declared. (The same court ruled against Kit Kat—"four trapezoidal bars aligned on a rectangular base"—earlier this year.)