In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, fast food giant McDonalds has lost an appeal court decision against a small business called McCurry on Wednesday. An appeals court overruled a decision that its trademark had been infringed by a local restaurant called McCurry. The restaurant has only one location, and does not sell anything resembling a burger, so no brand confusion could realistically occur, unless they start using the golden arches in their advertising.
The appelate court judge’s reasoning seems to be on the ball and is as follows.
“Where the learned judge, with respect, erred is to assume that McDonald’s had a monopoly in the use of the prefix ‘Mc’ on a signage or in the conduct of business,” Judge Gopal Sri Ram said, overturning a 2006 ruling in favor of McDonald’s.
I sure am glad that Pepsi has not copyrighted the upper case “P”, and that Coke has not copyrighted the upper case “C”. This is especially lucky for the Irish, as all Irish people whose family names start with Mc, would have had to start paying royalties to McDonalds.
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE53S6G120090429
