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A chain of restaurants in Ireland won a lawsuit against McDonald's. The Big Mac patent was lost by the American company in Europe, according to the British newspaper The Guardian.
Great success for a fast food giant in Europe
Pat McDonagh received the nickname "Supermac" when he was just a teenager after a football game in the 1960s. McDonagh and his team won the trophy for Westmeath's Moate College.
Half a century later, McDonagh re-emerged victoriously back into a completely different arena. His fast-food chain, Supermac & # 39; s, was rewarded by winning the lawsuit against the American company, McDonald & # 39; s.
The small Irish company has persuaded the European Intellectual Property Office to cancel the American Big Mac patent, thus offering opportunities for Supermac's supermarket chain to expand into the UK and the continent European.
McDonald's can not appeal.
"We're happy, it's a unique victory when you fight the gold arcades and win," said McDonagh, director of Supermac & # 39; s.
"This is a win for any small business, so big companies can no longer collect patents without using them," added McDonagh.
The Office of the European Union for Intellectual Property, based in Spain, decided that McDonald's did not demonstrate the use of the Big Mac patent issued in 1996 for a restaurant name or of a restaurant.
The issuance of patents has hampered McDonagh's ambition to expand its restaurant chain in Ireland. McDonald & # 39; s claimed that the resemblance between Big Mac and Supermac is too high and this would create confusion for consumers.
"We said it would not be confusing, Big Mac and Supermac are two completely different things," said McDonagh, 65.
He opened his first restaurant in 1978, in Galway, in western Ireland. The company now has 106 franchises in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Supermac says in a statement that he won a battle like David and Goliat against the abuses of the American multinational.
"They applied for a patent for Snackbox, a very popular Supermac product, but they never offered the product in their restaurants," said McDonagh. "The European Union has clearly stated: either you use it or you lose it," he continued.
On the same day that Brexit voted in Parliament, this process demonstrated the true value of the European Union. "You can go to the European Court and have a chance," said McDonagh.
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