Intellectual Property: McDonald’s eats IP up

In 2008, a teenager from Chicago (Lauren McClusky) applied to register the name McFest at the US Patent & Trademark Office. She cited the use of “Mc” as linked to the Mc in her own surname. For the last 3 years this plucky teenager has run an annual charity concert featuring high school and college bands in aid of the Chicago chapter of the Special Olympics.
The mighty McDonald’s Corporation was not pleased and in August 2008 McDonald’s challenged her application, claiming that her use of the McFest name would be linked to the McDonald’s chain. McDonald’s has been prolific in trying to protect the “Mc” prefix and has already obtained protection for the “Mc” prefix itself, as well as a variety of “Mc” prefixed words, such as McFree and Mc$ave.
Although a trial date has been set for 5 December 2010, McClusky has until this time next week (8 February) to respond to the challenge to her application. One major factor in her decision to maintain her application will be the sheer scale of costs she could face in fighting McDonalds. US litigation is NOT cheap. Watch this space.