A tiny curry restaurant on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur has fought off a copyright lawsuit from the worlds most famous fast food chain. The McCurry restaurant owned by Mr A.M.S.P Suppiah is to continue to trade under it’s name which stands for Malaysian Chicken Curry.
McDonald’s, who have 137 restaurants across Malaysia, argued that the independent restaurant’s name was an attempt to deceive customers. The court disagreed and McDonald’s were forced to pay McCurry’s expenses which amounted to 10,000 Malaysian ringgit.
The case may set a precedent making it harder for McDonald’s to sue those who use the Mc-prefix.
Tagged: Malaysia, McCurry, McDonald's, trademark
The recent McDonald’s v. McCurry ruling is not surprising. Just by the three main DuPont factors alone, appearance, sound and meaning, these two marks are arguably not confusingly similar. Add to that the difference in menus, and the difference in trade dress, and you have a pretty strong case for McCurry, which the panel seemingly accepted. The letters “Mc” cannot be totally, exclusively owned by one entity worldwide. And it’s not as if people are going to mix up McCurry with McDonalds. Now, if McCurry used the golden arches, had a clown and similar characters associated with the restaurant, that would be problematic. Those elements were not present in this case. On our site, trademarksprotected.com, we help with these trademark issues and any trademark questions.