McDonald's stripped of Big Mac trademark across EU after a legal challenge by an Irish burger chain

[OnDoutside]

Supermac's claims David vs Goliath trademark win over McDonald’s

Supermac’s has won a significant trademark battle against global fast food giant McDonald’s.

The Co Galway-based restaurant chain challenged the worldwide burger chain to cancel the use of the Big Mac and Mc trademarks. It submitted a request to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) in April 2017 to cancel the use of the Big Mac and Mc trademarks that McDonald’s has registered in certain classes. Supermac’s claimed McDonald’s engaged in “trademark bullying; registering brand names… which are simply stored away in a war chest to use against future competitors”.

Now the EUIPO said that McDonald’s had not proven genuine use of the contested trademark as a burger or as a restaurant name.

SNIP

Supermac’s managing director, Pat McDonagh, said that the judgment represents a victory for small businesses all over the world. “They trademarked the SnackBox, which is one of Supermac’s most popular products, even though the product is not actually offered by them.”

He added: “This is the end of the McBully. This decision by the European Trademark Office is also an indication of how important the European institutions are to help protect businesses that are trying to compete against faceless multinationals.”

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/supermacs-claims-david-vs-goliath-trademark-win-over-mcdonalds-897699.html

[LongtimeAZDem]

1. That's idiotic; even if they have "stored away" names, the Big Mac has been sold for 50 years, so

how could they possibly rule that McDonald's "had not proven genuine use of the contested trademark as a burger"?

[zipplewrath]

4. I don't think they did

The headline and the story don't seem to match up (surprise).
The issue appears to be over the name Supermac and SnackBox. The assertion is that McDonalds has been running around the world trademarking a variety of names, potentially for future use, and then sitting on them for years. I didn't see where they actually lost control of the name BigMac.

[LongtimeAZDem]

6. The EUIPO ruled that "the evidence is insufficient to establish genuine use of the trademark" on Big

Macs by McDonald’s across the EU.'

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/mcdonalds-big-mac-trademark-supermacs-eu-europe-ireland-a8728891.html

[zipplewrath]

8. Something ain't making sense

The Supermac brought it because of their name. It's almost as if the lawyers screwed up or something.

Lawyers for McDonald’s had provided printouts of its websites, examples of advertisements and packaging, three signed affidavits from its executives, and a printout of its Wikipedia page as evidence that it sells Big Macs across the EU and deserves a trademark.

The EUIPO ruled that “the evidence is insufficient to establish genuine use of the trademark” on Big Macs by McDonald’s across the EU.

“Taking into account the submitted evidence as a whole, it is concluded that the documents do not provide conclusive information that the products marked with the EUTM [European Union Trademark] are offered for actual sale, as there is no confirmation of any commercial transactions, either online, or via brick-and-mortar operations,” the EU office ruled.

I wonder if the McDonalds lawyers were mailing it in and screwed up.

[OnDoutside]

5. The real point is that MaccyDs have been trying to bully smaller companies, and have been called out

on it. Supermacs tried to open up in Australia and McDonalds blocked them. As Pat Mac noted, McDonalds trademarked the "Snack Box" even though they don't have it on their menu. There isn't a fast food place in Ireland that doesn't have a snack box on the menu.

That said, Pat Mac also said

The Irish fast food company had claimed that McDonald's engaged in "trademark bullying" by registering brand names only to store them away "in a war chest to use against future competitors."

Supermac's Managing Director Pat McDonagh is delighted with the ruling.

"We objected to their trademark for the Big Mac and that now has been decided by the European Union in Alicante and they have revoked the Big Mac trademark on the grounds that, for three counts really - first of all in relation to a burger, secondly a food item and thirdly for food services."

He said: "You either use it or lose it... you can't stash away all these trademarks...and have them in reserve or what they call trademark bullying to stop someone from doing something.

"This now opens the door for the decision to be made by the European trademark office to allow us to use our SuperMac as a burger across Europe."

Anyway, Supermacs is far tastier than McDonalds !!! And a far wider range of food too.

[LongtimeAZDem]

7. Which is perfectly reaonable for names they have not used, but to assert that

“the evidence is insufficient to establish genuine use of the trademark” on Big Macs is absurd in the extreme.

I don't care what anyone thinks of McDonald's, this is nonsense.

[OnDoutside]

9. It appears the problem is McDs trademarked hundreds of names starting with Mc/Mac all over the

world, and used that to block competition. I'm sure they will appeal the Big Mac, but they won't get away with blocking the likes of Supermacs from expanding.

[Submariner]

2. This is Trump's gourmet food restaurant the Brits are dissing so I would expect a Supermac tariff

and an insulting tweet about Prime Ministers May's looks at any moment now.

[mikeysnot]

3. Fuck em.

mcdonalds pay your hourly employees better, maybe I might even come in to use the bathroom.