Burger man in a pickle

Herald Sun ^ | Feb. 1, 2007 | Holly Ife

[Kiss Me Hardy]

ROSEBUD burger baron Ian Macdonald almost bit off more than he could chew when he went public about his bunfight with fast food giant McDonald's. Yesterday his business, Macdonald's Gourmet Burgers, had the busiest day in its short history as it was flooded with supportive customers. "I am on my way to buy another 150kg of beef now because we have completely sold out," Mr Macdonald said yesterday afternoon, before reopening for the dinner rush. "It has been absolutely crazy. I really have to apologise to everyone for the delays, but it was just so unexpected." .......

[Kiss Me Hardy]

How do you stop a guy called "McDonald" selling burgers under his own name? Bring in your lawyers, obviously

[Izzy Dunne]

a guy called "McDonald"

Read the name again. He even spells it differently.

[conservativehusker]

Right out of Eddie Murphy's Coming to America!

[Old Professer]

What a Kroc!

[HarleyD]

Good thing his name wasn't Wendy MacDonald.

[mtbopfuyn]

I don't see how Ronald has a leg to stand on. Different shop name and different spelling. I'd like to see him counter sue.

[SmithL]

I guess that I shouldn't ask Mac for two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun, huh?

[ozzymandus]

How can they sue him? It's not even spelled the same, and it's his real name, unlike "McDonald's".

[JTHomes]

Good thing his name wasn't Wendy MacDonald the Burger King!

[Kirkwood]

Well, there's hardly any meat to be seen in that hamburger, so maybe they are a lot alike.

[monkapotamus]

hehehe

[massgopguy]

McDonald's has the Golden Arches, McDougle's has the Golden Arcs. See the difference?

[Atlas Sneezed]

Folks, you don't have the right to use your name as a trademark if that would be confusingly similar to another mark.

Sorry, but that is the law, and it actually makes sense for the benefit of the consumer.

He could call it any other name, instead of trying to exploit the coincidence. Ever notice that many restaurants do fine without being names after the owner?

If you want to use your name as a trademark, be sure you are the first one to do so.

This is like all those silly morons who try to be cute, and think they can get away with making a wordplay on "Starbucks" for their coffee shop. The rule is, if it makes the consumer think about your competitor, you shouldn't do it.

[Vicomte13]

He should contest the lawsuit, countersue, win, and get rich.

Trademark owners certainly have rights, and what the limits are, are not clear. Which means they are set by courts.

MacDonald here has a good set of facts.
It's his name.
It's spelt differently.
He doesn't make his place look like McDonald's.
He doesn't sell the same sort of product at all.
He is in his home courts versus an American mega-firm.


They are going to try and wear him out with litigation expenses, but he should simply stand his ground. And he should make sure that he gets all the publicity in the world out of it: it's the American bullies versus the local boy.

The local boy will win this one, in the end, and when he does, if he fights to the end he'll get a whopping cash award out of McDonald's to. But he needs to countersue, for interference with his business, harassment, abuse of process - the kitchen sink - so that McDonald's cannot decide to just cut their losses and cancel the suit. Having started the war with him, when things develop as they must, all things considered, he can't just let them slip over the border. He needs to have his own lawsuits, which he WON'T drop, moving forward. They will either settle and make him rich, or he will take them INTO court in Australia, have the Australian justice system kick their ass, and get rich.

They picked the wrong fight, and so long as he fights it well and doesn't surrender, he will probably win.

[CharacterCounts]

This reminds me of Eddie Murph's Coming To America.

[50sDad]

McDonald's has the Golden Arches, McDougle's has the Golden Arcs. See the difference?

...and Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy, and Kennedy had a secretary named Lincoln...

[Talking_Mouse]

There's meat, to the left of the hanging onion you can see quite a bit of meat patty. I'd enjoy one of those burgers.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

The MacDonald's burger looks a lot better than a McDonald's burger to me.

[Kirkwood]

"There's meat, to the left of the hanging onion you can see quite a bit of meat patty. I'd enjoy one of those burgers."

You must be joking. That's no burger. This is a burger.

[Kirkwood]

This one is one is small, but ok if you're on a diet.