No More Chicken Big Mac 🍔

Hey there! 👋

Last week, the EU court made a decision about a case involving McDonald’s, the world's largest fast-food chain. This might be of interest to those who are looking to practice intellectual property law.

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Last week, McDonald’s, the popular American fast-food chain, lost a long-running legal battle against an Irish fast-food chain, Supermac’s. The European Court of Justice found that McDonald’s failed to prove genuine use of the ‘Big Mac’ trademark for items like chicken sandwiches, poultry products, and certain services associated with operating restaurants within a continuous period of five years. This revokes McDonald’s exclusive Big Mac rights in those areas across the EU.

What does this mean for Supermac’s? 🤔

The core issue centred around McDonald’s trademarking of the “Big Mac” was that the largest fast-food chain in the world was allegedly using it to bully smaller competitors and prevent them from expanding across Europe. The founder of Supermac’s, McDonagh, said that the “decision now gives them a lot of options,” as the win removes the major hurdle restricting their ability to grow their business internationally. As a result, Supermac’s can open up restaurant locations across the EU in the future without being sued by McDonald’s overly broad trademark claims.

What are the broader implications? 🤷‍♀️

From a legal perspective, the ruling sends a strong message to major corporations that continue to aggressively trademark names and brands that are beyond the scope of how they are actually used.

For smaller companies, this case shows that the EU court is willing to take away trademarks from larger multinational companies if they are not being used.

From a broader economic perspective, this ruling could foster increased competition by removing restrictive trademark barriers for smaller companies. This opens the door for more innovation as well as more choices for consumers across different products. For example, McDonald’s may now face increased pressure to maintain their product quality and brand rather than relying on their trademark protections to stifle competition.

How will this affect law firms and their clients? 🏛

This ruling and broader trademark issues are likely to have a significant impact on law firms and how they advise clients on intellectual property going forward:

• Law firms should advise clients to register new trademarks only when they align with their current offerings and only if they intend to use them.

• Clients would need to be informed that pursuing overly broad trademark registrations to reserve their rights and block competitors only increases the legal risk, which could be costly for them in the long run.