American fast food giant McDonald’s has suffered a fresh blow to its “Mc” trademark, losing its exclusive claim to the use of the prefix on a number of its products and services.
Irish company Supermac’s, which operates over one hundred food outlets in the Republic of Ireland, achieved partial success following its complaint to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). Supermac’s argued that McDonald’s had not put the “Mc” prefix to “genuine use” as far as certain products were concerned.
Although the EUIPO upheld McDonald’s trademarks in regards to a range of products such as “McNuggets”, “McMuffin” and “McFlurry”, the US company will no longer enjoy the exclusive use of “Mc” on a plethora of products – from hot drinks and dairy products to various meat products, pickles and syrups – unless it first passes a test of proof of usage in regards to each product.
This is the second time this year that Supermac’s has successfully taken action against McDonald’s via the EUIPO. The popular Irish chain has been engaged in a series of disputes with McDonald’s as it seeks to expand into the larger European and UK markets. These disputes have so far put the brakes on any such plans.
