McDonald's Loses “Mc” Lawsuit Against Malaysian Chicken Curry
Businesses know it is important to protect their trademarks from infringement. If they do not protect their marks, they could lose their exclusive right to use the marks. Some businesses are more aggressive than others in protecting their marks. McDonald's aggressively protects their trademarks. They have filed several lawsuits over the years, attempting to protect the “Mc” term in restaurant and food product use. The key factors in trademark infringement cases are whether the use of a similar mark will cause consumer confusion as to the source of the goods or services or is deceptive in some way.
In the latest installment of the “Mc” lawsuits, a Singapore restaurant franchise has finally won a trademark infringement case brought against it by the international franchise giant McDonald’s. The lawsuit started in 2001, when McDonald’s sued Malaysian Chicken Curry, which advertises itself as McCurry, for trademark infringement for the use of the term “Mc”. McDonald’s claims exclusive right of the “Mc” term in restaurant and food product advertising. The Malaysian Chicken Curry restaurant started in 1999 and serves Malaysian style cuisine. The restaurant is named after one of its popular dishes, Malaysian Chicken Curry. McCurry lost the case at the trial level, but after appeals, the court ruled in favor of McCurry.
While McCurry must be happy with their result, this finding will have dramatic effects on the strength of McDonalds' "Mc" designation in Malaysia. Will there be a snowball effect if other countries follow in the High Court of Malaysia's footsteps? Do you think the American court system would have come to a conclusion different from its Malaysian counterpart? Do you think sometimes businesses go too far in trying to protect their trademarks? There are so many possibilities--let's discuss!
