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If there is one burger that is representative of the McDonald’s universe, it is the Big Mac. An exclusive iteration of the chain, it will soon cease to be so, as it has just lost the trademark rights in the EU for its chicken versions.
This ruling was handed down yesterday, Wednesday 5 June, by the EU’s General Court, which argued that McDonald’s had failed to provide sufficient evidence of continuous use over five years in which it has not demonstrated the significance of the badge.
The chain had then lost its monopoly on the Big Mac in the EU after being defeated in a battle over the use of the mark for ‘poultry products’ that was initiated in 2014 by Supermac’s, one of its big Irish rivals. The company then applied for revocation of that licence with a lawsuit exposing the confusion that its products could give rise to between “steak sandwiches” and “chicken sandwiches”, which McDonald’s had incorrectly registered in the international classification of goods.
The battle intensified in 2017 following an application for revocation of the Big Mac trademark filed by Supermac’s, which was never enforced. Now, however, its objective has been realised after a review of the lawsuit; and the Luxembourg Court determined that the burger giant had not sufficiently demonstrated the use of the Big Mac trademark on chicken-based products during these 5 years.
For this reason, it has ruled in favour of Supermac’s, although McDonald’s can still appeal the decision before the highest body of the European Union, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU).
