Chile’s Supreme Court has ruled that NotCo may continue selling its plant-based drink under the NotMilk name, but has ordered the company to remove the word “leche” (milk) from packaging and advertising, along with any imagery or branding associated with the dairy industry.
The decision, handed down on May 12, partially upheld a complaint filed by Aproval, the dairy producers’ association of Los Ríos Region, which had accused NotCo of unfair competition over the marketing of NotMilk.
What the ruling requires
The court found that NotCo had disseminated “incorrect and inaccurate facts” by prominently featuring the word “milk” on its tetra pak carton alongside a cow image, and through advertising slogans including phrases such as “it’s milk but not,” “it tastes like milk and cooks like milk, but NOT, because it’s made 100% from plants,” and “we took the cow out of the milk.”
The court concluded these constituted unfair competition under Article 4(b) of Chile’s Unfair Competition Law No. 20.169, finding that the cumulative effect of the branding created an association with dairy milk in the minds of consumers, particularly given that the products were sold alongside dairy on supermarket shelves.
The ruling orders NotCo to publish an extract of the judgment in both the print and digital editions of the Austral de Valdivia newspaper within 15 days, and refers the matter to the National Economic Prosecutor’s Office (FNE).
Crucially, however, the court rejected Aproval’s primary contention: that NotCo had been trading on the reputation of dairy milk. That argument did not succeed.
NotCo says brand remains intact
NotCo CEO Matías Muchnick responded on LinkedIn, framing the outcome as largely positive for the company. “NotMilk is still called NotMilk. The brand intact. The product intact. That was what mattered most to us, and we achieved it,” he wrote. He added that the court “dismissed APROVAL’s main argument, that we were taking advantage of the reputation of milk. That position fell.”
Muchnick also noted that several elements cited in the ruling, including the crossed-out cow on the packaging and the placement of the product on dairy shelves in supermarkets, had already been changed. “Five years have passed. The product evolved. The brand evolved,” he wrote.
NotCo stated that the packaging impact would be “marginal” and that the company had been prepared for the possibility of required changes.
A five-year legal dispute
The case dates back to late 2020, when Aproval filed its original complaint. In May 2023, a first-instance court in Valdivia ruled against NotCo, prohibiting use of the NotMilk brand entirely. That decision was reversed on appeal in 2024, with the Valdivia Court of Appeals finding no unfair competition. The Supreme Court’s ruling now reinstates a partial finding of liability while allowing the brand name to stand.
Aproval’s president, Jaime Heinrich Commentz, welcomed the decision, describing it as “a recognition of the conviction to technically defend an activity like milk production.” He added that the ruling “sets an important precedent for any market player that intends to follow NotCo’s footsteps.”
