McLoss - McDonald's Big Mac Trademark Revoked by EUIPO

It is not often when the 'little guy' wins in a court of law, particularly when coming up against more established and well-known brands and companies. This is even more monumental when the brand in question is near ubiquitous with an industry, namely McDonald's. Although the case has been very widely reported on in the IP community and the wider press, some nuance has been lost in the discourse on the case and what it ultimately means.

The case of Supermac's (Holdings) Ltd v McDonald's International Property Company Ltd concerned the trademark for the iconic Big Mac, which McDonald's had registered as an EU trademark in 1998 (EUTM 62638). Supermac's is an Irish fast food chain, which has been operating in Ireland since the late 1970s. After a prolonged legal fight due to the chain's name against McDonald's (unrelated to the revocation proceedings), Supermac's sought the revocation of the Big Mac trademark at the EUIPO Cancellation Division.

Supermac's argued at the EUIPO that the Big Mac trademark was not put to genuine use within the EU under Article 58 of the EU Trademark Regulation, which stipulates that "...if, within a continuous period of five years, the trade mark has not been put to genuine use in the Union in connection with the goods or services in respect of which it is registered" an EU trademark should be revoked.

What is key is that the Big Mac trademark was registered for a number of goods and services in classes 29 and 30 (covering food items), but also under class 42 for the provision of restaurant services.

The Cancellation Division first set out that genuine use requires "...actual use on the market of the registered goods and services and does not include token use for the sole purpose of preserving the rights conferred by the mark, nor use which is solely internal". Genuine use is assessed looking at all of the relevant facts and circumstances in establishing whether the commercial exploitation is real; however, this does not include commercial success or its scale.

Having reviewed an extensive amount of evidence filed by McDonald's, including affidavits, marketing and internet materials, the panel considered whether they demonstrated genuine use of the Big Mac trademark. Although a great deal of evidence was filed, the panel considered that it didn't prove the extent of the use of the trademark itself. this includes looking at "...the nature of the relevant goods or services and the characteristics of the market concerned, the territorial extent of use, its commercial volume, duration and frequency".

With regards to internet materials, McDonald's failed to submit evidence on the actual data relating to visitors, their locations and the time frame in which this was done. Similarly, the Cancellation Division considered that, although sandwiches using the trademark were demonstrated in the excerpts from the proprietor's website, it was not possible to order the items online (or information on total orders placed and their details if possible). Finally, while brochures were provided as evidence, details on their circulation were not provided to the panel. Clearly McDonald's failed to submit detailed evidence on the use of its trademark, even though common sense demonstrates that the trademark is used within the EU.

The Cancellation Division concluded that "...the evidence analysed above does not provide sufficient details concerning the extent of use; other than exhibiting the sign in relation to goods which could be considered to be part of the relevant goods, these materials do not give any data for the real commercial presence of the EUTM for any of the relevant goods or services".

The proprietor therefore failed to demonstrate that the products marked with the trademark are offered for actual sale, as there is no confirmation of any commercial transactions, either online, or via brick-and-mortar operations. The trademark was deemed to not have been genuinely used within the EU, and the panel revoked the mark.

Clearly the case is an instance of poor evidence selection and provision, and undoubtedly will be appealed by McDonald's to the EU Boards of Appeal. It only goes to show that even the biggest and most resourceful entities can fall foul of a lack of preparation and consideration of evidence. To McDonald's chagrin, their competitors are already taking advantage of the opportunity.