Fu Yun Chi
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – McDonald’s (NYSE:) has no right to use the term “Big Mac” for poultry products in Europe after failing to use it for them for five consecutive years, the region’s second highest court said on Wednesday, partly The decision is a victory for Irish rival Supermac’s in a long-running trademark dispute.
The ruling by the Luxembourg General Court stems from Supermac’s 2017 attempt to overturn McDonald’s use of the Big Mac name, which the US company registered in 1996 for meat and poultry products and restaurant services.
The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) rejected Supermac’s recall application and upheld McDonald’s use of the term for its meat and chicken sandwiches, prompting the Irish company to challenge the decision.
Supermac’s, which opened its first restaurants in Galway in 1978 and has sought to expand into the UK and Europe, sells beef and chicken burgers, as well as fried chicken nuggets and sandwiches.
The General Court rejected McDonald’s arguments and partially annulled and modified the EUIPO’s decision.
“McDonald’s is losing its EU trademark Big Mac in relation to poultry products,” the judges ruled.
“McDonald’s has not demonstrated genuine use over a continuous five-year period in the European Union in relation to certain goods and services.”
The US fast food chain said in an email that it could still continue to use the Big Mac brand, which it uses primarily for beef sandwiches.
Supermac founder Pat McDonagh told Irish radio Newstalk the decision was “a big win for anyone with the surname Mac”.
“This means we can expand with Supermacs across the EU, so that’s a big win for us today,” he told the radio station.
Trademark owners should pay attention to the decision, said Pinsent Mason intellectual property lawyer Matthew Harris.
“This is a red flag and owners of well-known trademarks cannot simply rely on the premise of ‘obviously the public knows this brand and we are using it,’” he said.
“This case highlights that even world-famous brands are subject to the same scrutiny when they have to prove genuine use of a trademark in a given territory.”
The decision can be appealed to the Court of Justice of the European Union, Europe’s highest court.
Case T-58/23 Supermac’s v EUIPO – McDonald’s International Property (BIG MAC).