SUPERMAC'S founder Pat McDonagh has welcomed the decision by McDonald's to not appeal a landmark EU ruling on trademarks, saying: "It's a vindication of our campaign and we will not be bullied by bigger competitors."

The Irish fastfood chain was successful last year in a long-running trademark battle against McDonald's after it was decided that McDonald's had to partially cancel the 'Mc' trademark.

The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) ruled McDonald's' use of the prefix 'Mc' can't be exercised at just McDonald's' discretion but has to be subjected to a proof of use test to the EUIPO.

Supermac's has now learned that McDonald's did not file an appeal against the decision to cancel their Mc Registration for the majority of its goods and services, making the ruling final.

The 'Mc' registration has been restricted to ‘chicken nuggets’ in Class 29, and ‘edible sandwiches, meat sandwiches, pork sandwiches, fish sandwiches, chicken sandwiches’ in Class 30.

"We are delighted they have conceded, and that they have decided not to appeal it the decision," Mr McDonagh said.

"It’s a vindication of our campaign and shows we will not be bullied by bigger competitors. It is a fairly onerous task to take on the multinationals in something like this as they have the power behind them but they cant be seen to be hoarding trademarks.

"Fair play to the EUIPO office for not allowing this to continue to happen.

"They wanted to trademark the term 'Mc' for everything, but this judgment means they can't have it."

In a previous statement to Independent.ie, a McDonald's spokesperson said the decision does not impact the company's ability to use its Mc-prefixed trademarks throughout Europe and the world.

"McDonald’s considers its family of Mc-prefixed trademarks to be among its most valuable assets as customers throughout the world immediately recognize these trademarks as being associated with great quality food offered by McDonald’s," the spokesperson added.





Online Editors