McDonald’s vs. mac and cheese

ajc.com ^ | 6-10-10 | by John Kessler

[rawhide]

A pair of San Francisco Bay Area restaurateurs were all set to open their macaroni and cheese specialty restaurant with the name Little Mac when a phone conversation with legal counsel for McDonald’s derailed their plans. It seems the burger giant doesn’t take kindly to restaurants that use “Mac” or “Mc” in their names, citing brand infringement.

Rather than fight, the mac and cheese entrepreneurs, Erin Wade and Alison Arevalo, have put a call out for help in finding a new name.

[gundog]

....have put a call out for help in finding a new name.

One of the housemates in college refered to another housemates' vegetarian meals as "noodle crap and poo."

[Theophilus]

“MacMac”?

[Theophilus]

“Duck Fonalds”?

[tet68]

Maybe they could call it, “His noodly appendage”.
With a picture of the spagetti monster.

[hoosierham]

BK ribs are overpriced and terrible;if I wanted to chew on a burnt bone I'd be a dog.

Some of their other products are fine,and quality does vary from store to store.I've discovered one locally tends to serve lukewarm and tasteless food while another 5 miles away is much better.

[colorado tanker]

while you couldn’t copyright the “WORD” you could copyright the PHRASE

There's probably no infringement. These guys just decided the legal fees fighting McDonalds would bankrupt them, even if they won.

[SpaceBar]

I've stuck up for McDonald's as a successful American business model on other threads, but this smacks of the dark side of that monster corporation. They probably employ more lawyers than people who are concerned with the quality and nutritional value of food.

[posterchild]

Yes. Hard to believe it came out 22 years ago.

[cowboyway]

Ever eat BK Shots? Horrible. A pathetic Burger King attempt to copy White Castle

I've stopped and gotten those a couple of times. I usually eat one or two and give the rest to Jake. He loves em!!

[kbennkc]

McPiglet

[Huck]

That's what happens to great companies (and countries). Probably all organizations. The founders and creators eventually die off. The company morphs into just another corporate widget operation, where the people running the place don't care if their product is a hamburger or a laptop or a facial cream.

The CEOs hide up on the top floor with the lawyers and accountants, and all they really care about is EBITDA. That's a necessary part of the business, but it becomes their entire focus.

It's a far cry from Ray Krok parked across the street of the original McDonald's, watching people come and go, wheels turning in his head, a milkshake salesman on his way to business immortality. Visionaries are replaced with bean counters, lawyers, and frauds.

[posterchild]

Haven’t tried the BK knockoff. How bad is it? Sadly my nearest white castle is almost 300 miles away.

[OB1kNOb]

Who’s Yer Mac Daddy Cafe.

[Vision]

San Francisco is so queer. A restaurant that only serves mac and cheese? Last night the Food Channel has a piece on a SF eatery that only serves cereal. Bizarre.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Ronald’s House of Cheesy Pasta and Cheesier Lawsuits?

[tanknetter]

Something smells funny here.

(update 6/9/10: We have recieved lots of press about this story, and I want to clarify a few points. We ran the name Little Mac past a lawyer months ago, who told us he didn’t believe McDonald’s would have a problem with the name because there was no brand confusion. We became concerned when Erin, who is also a lawyer, started getting questioned by friends in Boston about the connection between Little Mac and McDonald’s. Erin called McDonald’s and spoke to their corporate council who told us they would have a problem with our name, or any other name with “mac” or “mc” in it. We never received a letter from McDonald’s, nor told anyone that we did.)

First, setting aside that the term is counsel, not council - something I'd expect a lawyer to know - the minute they start getting press they go from claiming that McDonald's was going to sue them to saying that the woman (wife?) had just called and was told there'd be a problem with it. No C&D letter from McDonald's, let alone the actual filing of a lawsuit.

IMHO (and this is just opinion/speculation, not accusation), what we have here are a couple of Libs who have managed to engineer a situation that allows them to build name recognition and market share at the expense of a big multi-national corporation. The woman/wife probably just talked to some lower-level lawyer in the General Counsel's office and walked away after being told there'd be a problem (note their language changed from claiming they were going to be sued to sayng that McDonald's would have a "problem" with the name). The name and official title of the person she spoke with is unidentified, and what are the chances that the head lawyer for McDonald's is going to take a call from a 2-person start-up?

Oh, and there are MANY restaurants out there that use "Mac" in their name or offerings. All the chili joints that sell "Chili Mac" for instance. In fact, note that these folks are going to change the name of their restaurant, but not remove "Mac" from their offering names. "Big Mac" - the apples/apples comparison, is a product name. I'm not a lawyer, but I think there'd be a bigger issue with having products with names that sounded like McDonald's products ...

[ThE_RiPpEr.]

“Big’s” Mac and Cheese

[Gaffer]

It seems the burger giant doesn’t take kindly to restaurants that use “Mac” or “Mc” in their names, citing brand infringement.

A weak argument on the "Mac" thing. Little Mac's ingredients would have to include horsemeat to qualify for 'infringement', in my humble opinion.

[rawhide]

I was thinking the same thing, after posting this story! It seems the owners may have contacted McDonald's themselves and had a lawyer there tell them they run the risk of being sued, so the owners thought this would be a great marketing opportunity, and have cashed in?

And as you said, lots of places use the 'mac' and 'mc' name in them. Seems to me the owners are using the McDonald's name and this bogus potential lawsuit story for their own enrichment?

[cowboyway]

Haven’t tried the BK knockoff. How bad is it?

You need to be hungry. But, like I said, Jake loves em!!! He could eat a dozen and want more!