McDonald’s sue an Irish fast food chain, and Burger King gets to troll them

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/i>. This was enough for McDonald’s to sue them, and even to object to the registration of the restaurant’s name — Supermac’s — arguing that it sounds too much like “Big Mac”.The courts, however, decided that the name of a restaurant — Supermac’s — cannot be a threat to the branding of one product — the Big Mac. So, McDonald’s lost.Now, having been poked, it was Supermac’s turn to take it one step further. In 2017, requesting the protections around the words "Big Mac" be revoked. And in 2019, a ruling issued by the European Union Intellectual Property Office revoked all rights for the words "Big Mac" as they relate to goods or restaurants across the EU.Here’s what Pat McDonagh, the owner of Supermac’s, <a href="https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.4980448">told CBC Radio</a> about it :"Let’s be honest with you, I suppose it probably never would have happened had they not objected to our registration for the Supermac’s trademark.”But oh, they did, and now as a consequence anyone can say Big Mac in their advertisement. Even Burger King.<h2 id="8f9d">It’s not the first time Burger King trolls rivals and competitors.</h2>My favourite one happened this summer; and it actually made a contribution to a good cause.In the US, the company launched a breaded chicken sandwich called Ch’King, served with dill-picked gherkins and a savoury, buttery sauce

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.<figure id="9b23"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*N2vtwxwg3wvDeXrYI8snxA.png"><figcaption>Source : <a href="https://www.thedrum.com/news/2021/06/03/burger-king-s-new-ch-king-sandwich-scary-good-says-billions-star-paul-giamatti">The Drum</a></figcaption></figure>Now, for those unfamiliar with fast food in the US, they have another large chain called Chick-fil-a, and they are famous for two things.The first one is their Original chicken sandwich, with breaded fried chicken and two dill-pickled gherkins on a toasted butter bun.The second one is the fact that their owner, billionaire Dan Cathy, is extremely homophobic. He has used his massive fortune on lobbying to oppose marriage equality, as well as promoting abusive and pseudoscientific practices such as the so-called conversion therapy purporting to turn LGBT people heterosexual or cisgender. This has led to a long-standing boycott of the company by those who support LGBT rights.So, of course, Burger King launched this chicken sandwich similar in style to Chick-fil-a’s and they <a href="https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/06/07/business/burger-king-chick-fil-a-lgbt/index.html">donated 40p for each Ch’King sold during Pride Month 2021</a> to The Human Rights Campaign, America’s largest LGBTQ civil rights organisation. The official Burger King Twitter account emphasised that they would do so “even on Sundays”, a pointed dig at the conservative Christian leadership of Chick-fil-a.</article></body>

Hold on, is this even legal? And why the Big Mac fixation anyway?

Yes, this is legal — in the European Union at least, and it happened because Mickey D’s got litigious and got hoisted by its own petard.

Meet Irish fast food chain Supermac’s. No relation to McDonald’s; or to 1960’s British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. It’s got its name from the nickname that Pat McDonagh got after a really good performance in a Gaelic football match back in his youth.

They too do burgers and fries and chicken nuggets, as well as pizza and tiny sausages by the 100 pieces bucket.

None of the items on their menu are called Big Mac or Mac-anything, but they did have a burger called the Mighty Mac. This was enough for McDonald’s to sue them, and even to object to the registration of the restaurant’s name — Supermac’s — arguing that it sounds too much like “Big Mac”.

The courts, however, decided that the name of a restaurant — Supermac’s — cannot be a threat to the branding of one product — the Big Mac. So, McDonald’s lost.

Now, having been poked, it was Supermac’s turn to take it one step further. In 2017, requesting the protections around the words "Big Mac" be revoked. And in 2019, a ruling issued by the European Union Intellectual Property Office revoked all rights for the words "Big Mac" as they relate to goods or restaurants across the EU.

Here’s what Pat McDonagh, the owner of Supermac’s, told CBC Radio about it :

"Let’s be honest with you, I suppose it probably never would have happened had they not objected to our registration for the Supermac’s trademark.”

But oh, they did, and now as a consequence anyone can say Big Mac in their advertisement. Even Burger King.

It’s not the first time Burger King trolls rivals and competitors.

My favourite one happened this summer; and it actually made a contribution to a good cause.

In the US, the company launched a breaded chicken sandwich called Ch’King, served with dill-picked gherkins and a savoury, buttery sauce.

Now, for those unfamiliar with fast food in the US, they have another large chain called Chick-fil-a, and they are famous for two things.

The first one is their Original chicken sandwich, with breaded fried chicken and two dill-pickled gherkins on a toasted butter bun.

The second one is the fact that their owner, billionaire Dan Cathy, is extremely homophobic. He has used his massive fortune on lobbying to oppose marriage equality, as well as promoting abusive and pseudoscientific practices such as the so-called conversion therapy purporting to turn LGBT people heterosexual or cisgender. This has led to a long-standing boycott of the company by those who support LGBT rights.

So, of course, Burger King launched this chicken sandwich similar in style to Chick-fil-a’s and they donated 40p for each Ch’King sold during Pride Month 2021 to The Human Rights Campaign, America’s largest LGBTQ civil rights organisation. The official Burger King Twitter account emphasised that they would do so “even on Sundays”, a pointed dig at the conservative Christian leadership of Chick-fil-a.