McDonald’s has the lost its ‘Big Mac’ trademark for poultry products marketed in the EU, after it was unable to prove to the EU’s General Court that the mark had been in continuous use for five years.

The case kicked off in 2017 when Supermac’s filed an application to have the trademark revoked in relation to certain goods and services offered by McDonald's.

Supermac’s claimed the trademark had not been put to “genuine use” in the EU with these goods and services for five continuous years.

Deliberations

The EU Intellectual Property Office had partially upheld Supermac’s application when the office concluded its deliberations, but confirmed the trademark for use by McDonald’s for meat products, poultry products and chicken sandwiches, as well as foods prepared from poultry products.

The new General Court judgement partially annuls this initial Intellectual Property Office decision by limiting the protection McDonald’s has on the trademark in dispute.

McDonald’s was unable to prove to the court that it had put the ‘Big Mac’ trademark to use with chicken sandwiches and foods prepared from poultry products.

The General Court found that evidence which had been taken into account by the EU’s Intellectual Property Office did not actually prove the trademark had been used in connection with those goods.