Trademark and copyright disputes (source:
target=_blank>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald%27s_legal_cases#Trademark_and_copyright_disputes)
Cases brought by McDonald's
McDonald's has also been criticized for its approach to preserving its image and copyrights [citation needed]. It has threatened many foodservice businesses with legal action unless they drop the Mc or Mac from their trading name.
McCoffee (US)
In 1994, McDonald's successfully forced Elizabeth McCaughey of the San Francisco Bay Area to change the trading name of her coffee shop McCoffee, which had operated under that name for 17 years. "This is the moment I surrendered the little 'c' to corporate America," said Elizabeth McCaughey, who had named it as an adaptation of her surname.
McChina Wok Away (UK)
In 2001, McDonald's lost a nine-year legal action against Frank Yuen, owner of McChina Wok Away, a small chain of Chinese takeaway outlets in London. Justice David Neuberger ruled the McChina name would not cause any confusion among customers and that McDonald's had no right to the prefix Mc.[3](McChina UK vs McDonald's USA)
McMunchies (UK)
In 1996, McDonald's forced Scottish sandwich shop owner Mary Blair of Fenny Stratford, Buckinghamshire to drop McMunchies as her trading name. Mrs. Blair did not sell burgers or chips. She said she chose the name because she liked the word munchies and wanted the cafe to have a Scottish feel. The cafe's sign reflected this, featuring a Scottish thistle and a St Andrew's flag. But in a statement to Mrs. Blair's solicitors, McDonald's said if someone used the Mc prefix, even unintentionally, they were using something that does not belong to them [4].
McAllan (Denmark)
In 1996, McDonald's lost a legal battle at the Danish Supreme Court to force Allan Pedersen, a mincemeat sandwich vendor, to drop his shop name McAllan.[5] Pedersen had previously visited Scotland on whisky-tasting tours. He named his business after his favourite brand of whisky, MacAllan's, after contacting the distillery to see if they would object. They did not, but McDonald's did. However, the court ruled customers could tell the difference between a one-man vendor and a multi-national chain and ordered McDonald's to pay 40,000 kroner ($6,900) in court costs. The verdict cannot be appealed.
McCurry (Malaysia)
In 2006, McDonald's won a five year legal battle in Malaysia against a small restaurant named "McCurry". The defendant claimed that McCurry stood for Malaysian Chicken Curry, but a High Court judge ruled that the prefix Mc and the use of colours distinctive of the McDonald's could confuse and deceive customers.[6]
South African trademark law
Apartheid politics had prevented earlier expansion into South Africa, but as the apartheid regime came to an end in the early 1990s, McDonald's decided to expand there. The company had already recognized South Africa as a potentially significant market and had registered its name as a trademark there in 1968.
Under South African law, trademarks cease to be the property of a company if they are not used for a certain amount of time. McDonald's had renewed the 1968 registration several times, but missed a renewal deadline. The registration expired and McDonald’s discovered two fast food restaurants in South Africa were trading under the name MacDonalds. Worse, a businessman had applied to register the McDonald’s name.
Multiple lawsuits were filed. McDonald’s was stunned when the court ruled it had lost the rights to its world-famous name in South Africa. However, the company eventually won on appeal
The real Ronald McDonald (US)
The company waged a 26-year legal action against a family restaurant in Illinois opened by a man named Ronald McDonald in 1956
