McDonald’s has lost the Big Mac war. The world leader in fast food will have to say goodbye to the monopoly over its popular brand in its 6,881 franchised establishments in the European Union, according to a ruling by the General Court of the European Union (TGEU) issued this year. Wednesday. The ruling only covers a variation that contains ‘poultry products’, especially chicken meat sandwiches, and its services drive-in (purchase from cars).
The Luxembourg high court has concluded that the hamburger giant has not demonstrated sufficient use of the Big Mac brand, its most popular product, on items made from chicken meat over an uninterrupted period of five years. For this reason, it has ruled in favor of Supermacs, an Irish rival based in the coastal city of Galway. McDonald’s can still appeal the decision before the highest body of the European Union, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU).
The judge noted that “the evidence provided by McDonald’s does not provide any indication of the importance of the use of the Big Mac trademark, in particular, with regard to “sales volume.” The Court has concluded that “the evidence examined does not allow us to prove the existence of effective use of said trademark.” Golden arches have decorated this special edition of their iconic sandwich – made up of two beef patties, iceberg lettuce, cucumbers and their ‘special sauce’ – in the EU since 1996.
As McDonald’s Big Mac refers to its popular double beef sandwich, the CJEU considers that McDonald’s has not demonstrated that said mark has been effectively used on products such as chicken sandwiches, dishes based on poultry products . For this reason, he rejects understanding Big Mac as synonymous with the services and restaurants of the American chain. In this way, McDonald’s loses its exclusive rights to the Big Mac brand, which will allow other chains and companies to use this name to designate their products in the EU territory.
The litigation first arose in 2014 after McDonald’s opposed Supermacs’ trademark application in the EU, claiming its resemblance to the US chain “could give rise to confusion.” The legal fight gained momentum again in 2017, following an application to repeal the Big Mac trademark filed by Supermacs. The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), which is based in Alicante, partially ruled in favor of the Irish competitor in 2019.
Supermacs, which since 1978 has offered a product similar to the American chain’s flagship sandwich in its 118 franchises, alleged that the distinction between ‘beef sandwiches’ and ‘chicken sandwiches’ was incorrectly recorded by McDonald’s in the international classification of goods, the so-called Nice Classification.
The American multinational has suffered a drop in sales in the Middle East due to a boycott following its operations in Israel. In addition, the company has received criticism from its consumers in the United States about the supposed sale of a Big Mac for 18 dollars (16.56 euros). The president of the company in the United States, Joe Erlinger, wrote in a letter addressed to his customers counterattacking the “poorly founded” message that had gone viral on social networks about “that McDonald’s has raised prices above inflationary rates.” The executive stated that “this is not true.”
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