Mighty Mac Vs. Big Mac: Maccy D’s wins dispute against Supermac’s

Irish fast food chain Supermac's has lost its fight with McDonald's… but to be honest, we kinda saw that coming.

McDonald's operates just about 34,000 restaurants around the world, so it's no surprise it beat Supermac's in a recent trademark claim.

Supermac's was bidding for a European trademark, but lost out when the American company filed a 41-page complaint to the EU's Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM).

In its decision, OHIM held up Maccy D's claim, rejecting Supermac's application because there's too many food items and branding that are similar.

McDonald's claimed that there was a "likelihood of confusion" if Supermac's was trademarked in Europe as they have a McFish, McToast, McCountry and other variations of "Mc" on its menu.

The inquest also found that both fast food chains had identical milk, meat and a "high degree" of similar seasonings.

“To the extent that both marks contain the element ‘MAC’, which may be perceived as a name or a nickname, the marks are conceptually similar. Furthermore, to the extent that both marks may be perceived as containing references to great or considerable size, they are also conceptually similar in that they refer to quantitative indicators," it was said.

“Taking into account the above mentioned visual, aural and conceptual coincidences, the signs under comparison are similar.”

But, speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, Pat McDonagh, managing director of Supermac's said that "the battle is not over" and he will not stop fighting to open the Irish chain in Europe.