Saturday, May 4, 2013

Mcdo vs. Big Mak trademark case


I recently  saw the food chain  in  Mauban, Quezon which was  involved in one of the landmark trademark case of McDo vs. BigMak. 

The Supreme Court ruled in August 2004 that aurally the two marks are the same, with the first word of both marks phonetically the same, and the second word of both marks also phonetically the same. Visually, the two marks have both two words and six letters, with the first word of both marks having the same letters and the second word having the same first two letters. In spelling, considering the Filipino language, even the last letters of both marks are the same. Clearly, respondents have adopted in “Big Mak” not only the dominant but also almost all the features of “Big Mac.” Applied to the same food product of hamburgers, the two marks will likely result in confusion in the public mind.Absent proof that respondents’ adoption of the “Big Mak” mark was due to honest mistake or was fortuitous, the inescapable conclusion is that respondents adopted the “Big Mak” mark to “ride on the coattails” of the more established “Big Mac” mark. This saves respondents much of the expense in advertising to create market recognition of their mark and hamburgerhttp://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2004/aug2004/143993.htm

No comments:

Post a Comment