Fast food giant McDonald’s have suffered a severe blow regarding its trademarks after the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) ruled against them in a landmark case.
The loss comes following a legal challenge from Irish restaurant chain Supermac’s over trademarks for the prefixes ‘Mc’ and ‘Big Mac’.
The landmark decision by the bloc’s trademark regulator is the latest in a long-running dispute between the two fast food chains.
The dispute began in 2015 when lawyers’ representing McDonald’s attempted to stop Supermac’s registering an EU-wide trademark for their name in a bid to expand the business to the UK and rest of Europe.
McDonald’s argued that the branding of Supermac’s is too similar to its own and would cause confusion amongst its customers.
Then in April 2017 Supermac’s which own over 100 restaurants across the whole of Ireland submitted a request to the European Union Intellectual Property Office asking them to cancel the two trademarks.
The Irish chain accused McDonald’s of ‘trademark bullying’ and registering brand names ‘which are stored away in a war chest to use against future competitors’.
McDonald’s legal team provided a range of evidence for the EUIPO including website printouts, advertisements and signed affidavits from executives to support their claim that they deserve the trademarks, but the EUIPO ruled the evidence insufficient to establish genuine use of the trademark.
The EUIPO statement said: “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 EU trademark are offered for actual sale, as there is no confirmation of any commercial transactions, either online or via brick-and-mortar operations.
Supermac’s Managing Director Pat McDonagh said in a statement: “We wholeheartedly welcome this judgment as a vindication of small businesses everywhere that stand up to powerful global entities.
“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.”
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