In the latest instalment of the ongoing trade mark dispute between Supermac’s and McDonald’s, it has been decided by McDonald’s not to appeal against the EUIPO decision to invalidate in part its ‘MC’ trade mark.

In August 2019, the EUIPO issued a decision that resulted in McDonald’s partially losing certain trade mark rights in respect of the “MC” trade mark within the European Union. The deadline for McDonald’s to file an appeal against the decision has now expired and so the finding of partial invalidity becomes final. The EUIPO’s decision significantly narrowed the range on goods and services covered by the “MC” trade mark. McDonald’s now only enjoys a registration for the “MC” trade mark for a limited range of goods, including chicken nuggets and sandwich products.  

In January 2019, Supermac’s was victorious in another battle against McDonald’s, which resulted in a landmark ruling where the EUIPO revoked McDonald’s EU word mark for ‘BIG MAC’ in its entirety. In that decision, the EUIPO found that McDonald’s had failed to put forward sufficient evidence to show genuine use of the word mark. McDonald’s has appealed that decision. Find our previous article on the decision here. 

With McDonald’s declining to file an appeal against the ‘MC’ decision, it has now reportedly paved the way for Supermac’s to pursue its expansion plans within Europe.

For more information, please contact David Cullen or your usual William Fry contact.

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