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McCurry beats McDonald's

by Nauman Umair Khan | May 4, 2009 at 09:54 pm

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McDonald's, a multinational food chain, which sued Malaysian-based McCurry (short form of Malaysian Chicken Curry) in 1999 for infringement of it's trademark, by use of the prefix 'Mc', has lost it's verdict in the Court of Appeal. Previously, the owners of McCurry lost to the multinational giant in 2006 in a Malaysian High Court and as a consequence were entitled to remove the first 'c' keeping a name 'M Curry' until their recent win back.

A small Malaysian restaurant is once again proudly trading as ‘McCurry,’ after its unlikely victory in an eight-year legal battle with US fast food giant McDonald's.

Fast food chain McDonald's lost a lawsuit in Malaysia on Wednesday after an appeals court overruled a decision that its trademark had been infringed by a local restaurant called McCurry.

"Where the learned judge, with respect, erred is to assume that McDonald's had a monopoly in the use of the prefix 'Mc' on a signage or in the conduct of business," Judge Gopal Sri Ram said, overturning a 2006 ruling in favor of McDonald's.

The McDonald's operation in this Southeast Asian country of 27 million people is run as franchise by prominent businessman Vincent Tan and has 185 outlets, according to the company website (www.mcdonalds.com/my).

McCurry, by contrast, serves Indian fast food from one restaurant in Kuala Lumpur as well Malaysian dishes such as fish head curry and is short for "Malaysian Chicken Curry," according to the company website (www.mccurryrecipe.com).

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jazzyzazzy

at 03:38 on May 5th, 2009

8 yrs lawsuit is money wasted and stupidity at the most unlikely level.Glad the wee curry place won this case. I do not think should have happened in the first instance.