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16 May 2016Trademarks

McDonald’s downs ‘McKosher’ trademark in Australia

An Australian who hoped to open a “Scottish Jewish” restaurant called McKosher has lost his fight to trademark the name following a battle with fast food chain McDonald’s.

The application was filed by Mark Glaser, who lives in Maclean in New South Wales, in 2013. It was for class 29, covering various types of food.

But in a decision handed down on May 3, the Australian Trade Marks Office said there would likely be a textual confusion between the ‘McKosher’ mark and McDonald’s, which owns several trademarks starting with the ‘Mc’ prefix.

Glaser told the office hearing he was of Scottish Jewish descent and that he hoped to open a Scottish Jewish restaurant called McKosher.

Despite his additional claims that businesses in Maclean had often used the prefix ‘Mac’ and ‘Mc’, including McMarkets and MacConsultants, the office rejected his application.

In its opposition McDonald’s said it owned several trademarks for ‘Mc’-based products and that it was in negotiations with rabbi leaders in Jerusalem over the issue of the name of the chain in the city.

One suggestion was to re-name specialised branches that sell kosher food as “McKosher”, the restaurant said.

McDonald’s also pointed to its previous use of the prefix ‘Mc’ including ‘McFeast’, ‘McChicken’ and ‘McFish’.

McDonald’s has a history of enforcing the ‘Mc’ and ‘Mac’ term around the world.

In 2013, WIPR reported that a Canadian businessman had failed to register ‘MacDimsum’ as a trademark after it was opposed by the fast-food chain.

Earlier this year the European Union Intellectual Property Office partially upheld an opposition by McDonald’s to an EU trademark application by Ireland-based restaurant Supermac’s.

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