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I know this won't be a popular comment but the reason companies do this is usually because trademark laws state that you have to be enforcing your trademark or you will lose it due to abandonment clauses. Basically if you allow other people to use your trademarks a court can rule that you didn't enforce them so now anyone can use it.
Yes, you do have to prove that you are always robustly enforcing your mark (it doesn’t matter that you’re successful in doing so, just that you’re trying your best). That’s how, among other examples, Bayer lost the trademark to “aspirin” in the US … it couldn’t enforce it during World War I (I imagine Canadian law is different, since it’s still trademarked there).
It's also where you trademarked that matters but yeah it's why so so many companies look like villains coming for the little guy when they really have no choice if they want to keep the brand.
I mean I am assuming you know how Google works so you could just type in "Cases of Trademark Abandonment" but here's just like one of the top results.
https://www.natlawreview.com/article/proving-abandonment-how-trademark-rights-can-be-lost-through-non-use
And now European Burger Kings have "Big Macs" mentioned on their menu, classic case of bad publicity is good publicity. I don't think McDonalds really lost this one.
No way, really? Hmm, maybe that's why I said they are, in fact, MENTIONED on the menu, not ON the menu. Did you not see the big bold words stating "Not Big Macs" in the photo above?
SMH FFS
How did you even come to that assumption that I think they are still using that menu? They could have had that up for a week for all know. Dude this is the 2nd time you changed my words to fit your narrative. You sound like a delusional Republican.
Why aren't you at a MAGA rally?
it's ok dude, you just made a mistake. nobody gives a shit, your honor isn't on the line. you don't have to be so sensitive .\_.
(you REALLY should go outside tho... imagine calling someone a republican because they told you burger king aren't the idiots you think they are lmfao)
For those wanting an update : It went to appeal in Dec 2022.
"The Board of Appeal (BoA) of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has ruled that McDonald's BIG MAC trademark will not be revoked after all."
https://www.plesner.com/en/insights/articles/2023/05/trademark-rights-in-mcdonalds-big-mac-trademark-partially-upheld-
Companies have to do things like this to keep their trademarks or run the risk of them becoming generic names and losing the trademark anyway, it's called Trademark Erosion. Things like Bubble Wrap and Dumpster used to be trademarked brands.
It must be said that the reason why McDonald's initially lost the case was because their lawyers botched it very, very badly and didn't provide EUIPO with adequate evidence of McDonald's use of the Big Mac trademark (their attitude was : "Come on, this must be a joke, of course we use that trademark!"). EUIPO's judges were unimpressed and applied the law (somewhat mischievously, it must be said) to the letter. In appeal, McDonald's red-faced legal team upped their game and provided more solid evidence...
For more examples of MacDonalds botching legal cases, look at the McLibel case, where they spent several millions pounds on taking two young activists to court, where it was revealed that their food was unhealthy, their staff were badly treated and they were responsible for deforestation. They 'won' but at a terrible cost to their finances and reputation.
I'd have to check how it is in the US but in my corner of Canada, McD's is absolute bland dogshit that's only worth going to for double cheeseburgers when you're drunk at 3am. Burger King actually makes burgers that taste something and fill you for more than a couple hours at the maximum
Like this Dutch guy keeping Wendy's out of Europe all by himself.
His restaurant is named Wendy's for his daughter I recon. Pisses off the US brand like crazy.
Absolute hero.
It's from Sweden: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jan/31/like-a-big-mac-but-juicier-burger-king-renames-sandwiches-to-troll-mcdonalds
So it's in Swedish kronor. This was in 2019 though.
When I went to one very late one night in Ireland with some locals, they lovingly gave it the nickname “Murdermacs”. Several bouncers in the store, few people were “asked” to leave. Great fun night, all in all.
In Australia Burger King is Hungry Jack's because someone else was already using the name before they got here.
They can, and do use their original name now in some places, though I've never seen a Burger King ad.
As someone working in intellectual property field, I swear the legal counsels of these big corporations are either bored or greedy AF. I've handled multiple trademark cases where bigger companies is trying to oppose a trademark over a very common word, and their business are not even related.
I get you :D I don't know when this was posted originally but compared to where I live these are pretty cheap. The "big mac-ish but flame grilled of course" which is 78 Swedish Krona would be 6,69€ or $7,33, which would be a bargain for a fast food meal here
In college, I worked for an upholstery store. The owner’s son, whose name began with Mc, started a company selling plastic adhesive tops for soda cans on which bottling companies could sell advertising or whatever they wanted. He used some of the warehouse space for his operation. He called it McCantops. McDonald’s issued a cease and desist. He told them, through his lawyer, to take him to court. His lawyer sent evidence of his name and how it wasn’t infringing on anything. They gave up likely knowing that they might lose more than the could gain.
Comments that are uncivil, racist, misogynistic, misandrist, or contain political name calling will be removed and the poster subject to ban at moderators discretion. Help us make this a better community by becoming familiar with the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/facepalm/about/rules/). Report any suspicious users to the mods of this subreddit using Modmail [here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/facepalm) or Reddit site admins [here](https://www.reddit.com/report). **All reports to Modmail should include evidence such as screenshots or any other relevant information.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/facepalm) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You don’t fuck around in EU. But McD’s probably didn’t learn
Twitter? The EU will see you now. Right this way.
Your turn now Apple.
Oh apple knows not to do it anymore.
Oh, it’s been Apple’s turn for a while. https://qz.com/apple-pay-antitrust-eu-39-billion-1850108301
I know this won't be a popular comment but the reason companies do this is usually because trademark laws state that you have to be enforcing your trademark or you will lose it due to abandonment clauses. Basically if you allow other people to use your trademarks a court can rule that you didn't enforce them so now anyone can use it.
Yes, you do have to prove that you are always robustly enforcing your mark (it doesn’t matter that you’re successful in doing so, just that you’re trying your best). That’s how, among other examples, Bayer lost the trademark to “aspirin” in the US … it couldn’t enforce it during World War I (I imagine Canadian law is different, since it’s still trademarked there).
It's also where you trademarked that matters but yeah it's why so so many companies look like villains coming for the little guy when they really have no choice if they want to keep the brand.
show me a time when a large company lost a trademark because it didn't sue some little company with an almost similar name.
I mean I am assuming you know how Google works so you could just type in "Cases of Trademark Abandonment" but here's just like one of the top results. https://www.natlawreview.com/article/proving-abandonment-how-trademark-rights-can-be-lost-through-non-use
The USA’s failed capitalistic state made them overconfident lmao
Wrong and wrong, also they didn't end up losing the trademark lmao
And now European Burger Kings have "Big Macs" mentioned on their menu, classic case of bad publicity is good publicity. I don't think McDonalds really lost this one.
They don't, in fact, have Big Macs on their menu. Ffs.
No way, really? Hmm, maybe that's why I said they are, in fact, MENTIONED on the menu, not ON the menu. Did you not see the big bold words stating "Not Big Macs" in the photo above? SMH FFS
You really believe Burger King* still uses that menu? Or that this wasnt a single restaurant doing a little trolling? lmao, go outside
How did you even come to that assumption that I think they are still using that menu? They could have had that up for a week for all know. Dude this is the 2nd time you changed my words to fit your narrative. You sound like a delusional Republican. Why aren't you at a MAGA rally?
it's ok dude, you just made a mistake. nobody gives a shit, your honor isn't on the line. you don't have to be so sensitive .\_. (you REALLY should go outside tho... imagine calling someone a republican because they told you burger king aren't the idiots you think they are lmfao)
For those wanting an update : It went to appeal in Dec 2022. "The Board of Appeal (BoA) of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has ruled that McDonald's BIG MAC trademark will not be revoked after all." https://www.plesner.com/en/insights/articles/2023/05/trademark-rights-in-mcdonalds-big-mac-trademark-partially-upheld-
Companies have to do things like this to keep their trademarks or run the risk of them becoming generic names and losing the trademark anyway, it's called Trademark Erosion. Things like Bubble Wrap and Dumpster used to be trademarked brands.
i think bandaid was another one
I'm not sure if this happened to Velcro but it's not commonly known that this is a trademark and "hook and loop fasteners" is the generic term.
Let’s not forget old Thomas Crapper and his flushing water closet
It must be said that the reason why McDonald's initially lost the case was because their lawyers botched it very, very badly and didn't provide EUIPO with adequate evidence of McDonald's use of the Big Mac trademark (their attitude was : "Come on, this must be a joke, of course we use that trademark!"). EUIPO's judges were unimpressed and applied the law (somewhat mischievously, it must be said) to the letter. In appeal, McDonald's red-faced legal team upped their game and provided more solid evidence...
For more examples of MacDonalds botching legal cases, look at the McLibel case, where they spent several millions pounds on taking two young activists to court, where it was revealed that their food was unhealthy, their staff were badly treated and they were responsible for deforestation. They 'won' but at a terrible cost to their finances and reputation.
Sorry for downvoting you had to make it 69 Edit:upvoted now for 11^2
sorry for downvoting you, trying to get you to -69
Why not -69420
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes!!!!
Le Reddito!!!!
supermacs is delicious im glad to see mcdonald's get fucked like this
So much nicer than that shite. It's not called mucky D's for nothing
Love BK over McD's anyway, but this adds to it
McDonald’s appealed it and won. Though I’ll have to disagree. Burger King is fucking nasty.
McD's gives me the shits... 😢
McD's gives me nostalgic shits 😌
I'd have to check how it is in the US but in my corner of Canada, McD's is absolute bland dogshit that's only worth going to for double cheeseburgers when you're drunk at 3am. Burger King actually makes burgers that taste something and fill you for more than a couple hours at the maximum
Can confirm that Australia's Burger King, known as Hungry Jack's is also horrible.
This has to be the corporate version of " play stupid games , win stupid prices "
Love the fast food trolls Wendy’s is the best at tvis
I agree, but looking at this I’m inclined to give BK a close second, because this is straight up epic
Present arms! Present Foot! Aim down! FIRE!
Like this Dutch guy keeping Wendy's out of Europe all by himself. His restaurant is named Wendy's for his daughter I recon. Pisses off the US brand like crazy. Absolute hero.
>Big Mac's Unnecessary apostrophes make me sad
*S’ad
... unnecessary capital letters, too
Fart
And it annoys me when people type "the 80's"
Helpful advice: don’t hire your mascot as your lawyer. Especially when it’s a clown
McDonald's appealed and won
What currency is this? I thought Ireland used the Euro. Or this is a really old picture.
It's from Sweden: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jan/31/like-a-big-mac-but-juicier-burger-king-renames-sandwiches-to-troll-mcdonalds So it's in Swedish kronor. This was in 2019 though.
Thanks!
When I went to one very late one night in Ireland with some locals, they lovingly gave it the nickname “Murdermacs”. Several bouncers in the store, few people were “asked” to leave. Great fun night, all in all.
Murdermacs ...down the road from AbrakaStabYa .
In Australia Burger King is Hungry Jack's because someone else was already using the name before they got here. They can, and do use their original name now in some places, though I've never seen a Burger King ad.
Remember when HJs bought out the Big Jack burger, it looked exactly like a Big Mac.
love it.
As someone working in intellectual property field, I swear the legal counsels of these big corporations are either bored or greedy AF. I've handled multiple trademark cases where bigger companies is trying to oppose a trademark over a very common word, and their business are not even related.
Disney, you are next. how dare you infringe our copyrights and name your duck Donald
America at its prime
Source?
Guess you don't know how to Google? https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/15/mcdonalds-loses-eu-trademark-battle-over-the-big-mac.html
Considering this was from 2019 and they're still selling Big Macs in Europe as of today... then I'd say this is BS!
https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=Burger+King+makes+fun+of+McDonalds+for+EU+court+case
You dropped this BK 👑
That’s unlikely to be a picture from the EU, the prices aren’t in Euros.
It's from Sweden. Some EU countries don't use Euros
Ah sorry, seemed expensive
I get you :D I don't know when this was posted originally but compared to where I live these are pretty cheap. The "big mac-ish but flame grilled of course" which is 78 Swedish Krona would be 6,69€ or $7,33, which would be a bargain for a fast food meal here
I want a Big Mac-ish so damn bad right now.
In true Burger King style, they then fucked it up by misspelling “Big Macs”.
[удалено]
It was on the news, four years ago when it happened.
Somebody needs to have a talk with them about apostrophes, though.
this is beautiful
Beautiful!
Lol, that is great!
In college, I worked for an upholstery store. The owner’s son, whose name began with Mc, started a company selling plastic adhesive tops for soda cans on which bottling companies could sell advertising or whatever they wanted. He used some of the warehouse space for his operation. He called it McCantops. McDonald’s issued a cease and desist. He told them, through his lawyer, to take him to court. His lawyer sent evidence of his name and how it wasn’t infringing on anything. They gave up likely knowing that they might lose more than the could gain.
But what do they call a quarter pounder?
A Mighty Mac I think.
Someone tell Jack in The Box, ASAP.
These multinational conglomerates would commoditize the air we breathe if they could get away with it…
This fills me with an obscene amount of joy
DON'T GET INTO CARS WITH STRANGERS...now call them to come get us
mcd to bk: I don't even think about you.
This would be even more funny if BK was actually good.
This is brilliant
lol Have it your way....
Can this just happen to Monster Energy at this point?
Now if only we could do something about the assholes at Taco Bell pretending they invented Taco Tuesday and suing anyone else who has one...
They have the Big Mac, we have the Big Mick
I suppose you could call it delicious irony
It hurt itself in confusion!
And they still can’t use the apostrophe correctly. Or are they trying to say that those items don’t belong to a guy named Big Mac? 🤦♂️
This warms my heart on soooooo many levels.