The American government has little interest in protecting the word 'Parmesan' itself; firstly because doing so would be inconvenient to American cheesemakers^,

The American government has little interest in protecting the word 'Parmesan' itself; firstly because doing so would be inconvenient to American cheesemakers^, and secondly, because Americans don't speak Italian anyway and don't perceive an implication of "From Parma" from the word "Parmesan", even if such an implication is obvious to those who do know Italian. ^ Just as European cheese regulations protect European cheese interests, so do American cheese regulations protect American cheese interests.