Our Bureau
Ahmedabad
A suit filed against McDonald’s Corporation for alleged groundless threats in Ahmedabad rural court in Gujarat. McPatel Foods Private Limited, a snack maker based in Gujarat, has filed a civil suit against the global fast food giant from the United States stating that there have been groundless threats from McDonald’s due to the use of the mark ‘McPatel’.
The Gujarat based snack joint has filed the suit in a rural court under the Section 142 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, to try to prevent the American fast food giant from initiating or threatening a legal action against them. As per the reports McDonald’s is threatening a legal action on the Indian brand over the use of the prefix – ‘Mc’ in the company’s corporate and product branding.
McDonald’s has noticed the opposition and has stated certain points of rebuttals against their complaint. They have stated that the Indian brand is trying to use a prefix that is very similar to their “Mc” and “Mac” family of trademarks. McDonald’s have also argued that their trademarks have been registered in more than 100 countries, solely to protect against third-party use of “Mc”-formative marks. They have been known through these trademarks globally since the 1970s and 1996 in India.
The American fast food joint chain has also argued that ‘Patel’ and ‘Foods’ are quite common words and ‘Mc’ is a dominant element that serves as the identifying factor in their name. McDonald’s have also alleged that the Indian fast food brand has used this prefix in bad faith so that they can confuse and deceive people and use McDonald’s goodwill to enhance their reputation.
The whole fiasco began when in March 2024 McPatel Foods applied to register their mark – “McPatel” under Class 30 which covers bakery goods, snacks, noodles, confectionery, sauces and frozen foods. But on August 27th, 2024, the American giant filed an objection to their application in front of the Indian Trademarks Registry.
