Malaysia’s Appeal Court ruled today that U.S. fast food giant McDonald’s cannot claim an exclusive right to the ‘Mc’ prefix in the country, allowing a local food outlet to keep its name, a report said.
A three-member Appeal Court panel overturned a 2006 High Court ruling, saying there was no evidence to show that McCurry Restaurant was passing off McDonald’s business as its own, national Bernama news agency reported.
Appeal Court Judge Gopal Sri Ram said the High Court had “erred” in assuming that McDonald’s had an exclusive right to the use of the prefix, Bernama reported.
He said McCurry’s signboard has white and grey letters against a red background with a picture of a smiling chicken giving a double thumbs-up, in contrast to McDonald’s red and yellow “M” logo. McCurry also serves only Indian food, not competing with McDonald’s western menu, he said.
“McCurry’s Restaurant signboard would not result in reasonable persons associating McCurry with the McDonald’s mark,” he said.
McCurry has said its name was an abbreviation for Malaysian Chicken Curry.
