McDonald’s loses Big Mac trademark case | Business News

McDonald’s has lost its EU trademark for its use of the term “Big Mac” in relation to chicken sandwiches.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has upheld a complaint against the US fast food giant brought by Irish rival Supermac’s.

In 2017, Supermac attempted to revoke McDonalds use of the term Big Mac, which the company trademarked in 1996 for meat, fish and chicken sandwiches and a range of restaurant services, including takeout and drive-thru.

Generally, the rights of an EU trade mark holder are revoked upon application to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) if it has not been used genuinely within a period of five years.

The EUIPO dismissed Supermac’s application and confirmed McDonald’s use of the term for beef and chicken sandwiches, prompting the Irish company to challenge the decision.

Supermac’s argued to the ECJ that McDonald’s insufficiently used the contested mark in relation to “chicken sandwiches”.

He added that the North American food giant’s evidence on the matter was essentially limited to the marketing of “meat sandwiches”.

McDonald’s and EUIPO presented examples of advertisements and billboards relating to “Grand Big Mac Chickens”.

But the court ultimately concluded that the evidence was not sufficient to prove that McDonald’s had sufficiently used the contested mark in relation to poultry products.

“McDonald’s loses the EU Big Mac mark with regard to poultry products,” the judges ruled.

“McDonald’s has not proven genuine use over a continuous period of five years in the European Union in relation to certain goods and services.”

Additionally, the court considered whether McDonald’s was entitled to Big Mac as a protected trademark in connection with the branding of restaurant services, including takeout and drive-through facilities.

The ECJ upheld Supermac’s complaint on this matter and revoked McDonald’s protection of the phrase for such purposes.

Each party was ordered to bear its own costs.

Supermac founder Pat McDonagh told Ireland’s Newstalk Radio that the decision was “a huge victory for anyone with the
surname Mac”.

“This means we can expand to other places with Supermac across the EU, which is a big win for us today,” he said.

McDonald’s was unfazed by the decision, which can be appealed to the ECJ, but only on points of law.

“The EU General Court’s decision does not affect our right to use the ‘Big Mac’ brand,” the company said in a press release. “Our iconic Big Mac is loved by customers across Europe and we are excited to continue to proudly serve local communities as we have for decades.”