McDonald's loses appeal against Malaysia's McCurry

McDonald’s Corp, the world’s largest restaurant chain, lost an attempt to stop a Kuala Lumpur eatery selling Indian food from using the name McCurry.

Judge Arifin Zakaria of Malaysia’s highest court dismissed the application by McDonald’s as its “questions were not properly framed.”

The three-member Federal Court upheld a decision that McCurry Restaurant (KL) Sdn. Bhd. hadn’t passed off its business as being related to McDonald’s by using the prefix “Mc” in its name.

“At last the eight-year legal battle is over,” said McCurry’s owner AMSP Suppiah, 55.

McDonald’s lawyer Wong Sai Fong and Liam Jeory, McDonald’s Hong Kong-based spokesman for Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa, said the company will abide by the court’s decision and declined to comment further.

The Oak Brook, Illinois-based fast food chain in 2004 lost an attempt to stop Singapore-based Future Enterprises from distributing products with names like “MacTea,” the same year it won a 16-year fight to stop LC.

Big Mak Burger Inc of the Philippines from marketing a burger with a name similar to the “Big Mac” sandwich of McDonald’s. “There are other similar cases where McDonald’s failed,” said Tan Tee Jim, a partner at Singapore-based Lee & Lee who acted for Future Enterprises, citing a Canadian ruling allowing another company to use “McBeans” for gourmet coffee. As long as there is no trade mark infringement, “smaller companies definitely have a fighting chance against the big brand names,” he said.

The Malaysian restaurant’s logo is a chicken giving a thumbs up with the wording “Malaysian Chicken Curry.” It opened for business in 1999 and serves dishes including fish head curry and breads including roti chanai and tandoori naan, according to the restaurant’s website.

Judge Gopal Sri Ram of the Court of Appeal had ruled in April that McCurry is a typical Indian restaurant selling Indian and local dishes while McDonald’s “is a multinational vendor of fast food such as burgers, French fries and milkshakes.”

“We have nothing similar with them at all,” said Suppiah’s wife and business partner Kanageswary, 50. She added that plans to expand their fast-food restaurant had been put on hold because of the legal fight. The Federal Court awarded McCurry costs of 10,000 ringgit ($2,846).

“It’s a classic case of whether or not the registration and use of a mark, that is said to closely resemble that of another party’s, will cause confusion and deception,” said Gilbert Leong, a partner at Singapore-based Rodyk & Davidson LLP’s intellectual property practice. “Obviously, the courts in Malaysia didn’t think that it would.”