An Irish fast food chain locked in a long running dispute with McDonald's has been told it cannot register its name as a trademark in the European Union.
In its ruling the European Union Intellectual Property Office's (EUIPO) board of appeal said Galway-based Supermac's logo and signage was too close to its US rivals Big Mac trademark.
EUIPO said there was a likelihood of confusion between Supermac's and the Big Mac trademark for English and German speaking consumers.
The ruling, made in June, does not impact on Supermac's trading in Ireland.
The Irish fast food chain had been seeking to appeal a ruling made last year that found allowing Supermac's to register its name as a trademark within the EU would lead to the likelihood of confusion.
Supermac's, founded in 1978 in Galway, first applied for a trademark in the EU in May 2016.
McDonald's opposed that move, saying Big Mac has been registered as a trademark for meat sandwiches since December 1998.
Image source, Supermac'sImage caption, Supermac's was founded by Pat McDonagh in the late seventies
In its most recent appeal in June of this year, the Irish chain argued both it and McDonald's had coexisted in Ireland for around 40 years and there had been no evidence of confusion.
Its legal team also argued there is "no reasonable likelihood that the relevant public would mistake a Supermac's restaurant for a Big Mac burger".
Supermac's also argued "an that adverse finding would require accepting that a consumer might attend a Supermac's restaurant expecting to purchase a Big Mac.
"That proposition is fundamentally inconsistent with the opponent's own evidence, which seeks to establish that Big Mac is almost universally recognised as a product of McDonald's. There is no possible scenario where this might occur."
McDonald's, in reply, claimed the issue of coexistence was irrelevant, adding the issue to be decided was "whether there exists a conflict in the European Union".
The fast food giant further said consumers would "not inevitably be able to easily recognise that Big Mac designated a food product" while Supermac's "designated a restaurant chain".
"The boundaries between food products… and… a restaurant name, are blurred in the perception of the relevant public," McDonalds submitted to the EUIPO.
Image source, Supermac'sImage caption, Supermac's has been involved in a long running legal battle with McDonald's
The EUIPO said there was a very high awareness of the Big Mac trademark among the general population and it enjoyed an enhanced degree of distinctiveness for meat sandwiches… by virtue of intensive use and recognition in the EU market."
It said the more distinctive the trademark, the greater risk of confusion, adding the enhanced degree of distinctiveness meant the likelihood of confusion could not be ruled out.
"It cannot be excluded that the contested sign may be perceived by the relevant public as a sub-brand or a variant of the earlier mark for another (new/enhanced) line of meat sandwiches," it ruled.
It said the signs shared a common semantic reference capable of suggesting a link in the mind of the relevant public and said because the Big Mac is protected by a trademark across the entire EU, proof of coexistence in one state was "inadequate".
The two chains have been embroiled in a long running legal battle over the right to use brand terms including "Mac".
In 2024, following a legal challenge from Supermac's, the European Court of Justice ruled McDonald's no longer has the exclusive right to use the label "Big Mac" in reference to chicken burgers sold in the EU.
