The General Court of the EU – in the first instance of the CJEU – yesterday revoked the right of the American fast food chain McDonald’s to exclusively use the “Big Mac” brand for failing to demonstrate its effective use in the Union for an uninterrupted period of five years with respect to certain products and services. This ruling is the result of litigation dating back to 2017, when the Irish fast food chain Supermac’s filed an application for revocation of the trademark, which was registered in favor of McDonald’s in 1996, with respect to certain products and services.
In his ruling yesterday, The General Court further limits the protection granted to McDonald’s for the “Big Mac” trademark, since it considers that McDonald’s did not demonstrate that said trademark was the subject of effective use, specifically, with regard to products such as chicken sandwiches, dishes based on poultry products and rejects understanding “Big Mac” as a synonym for own 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.
