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
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