On February 25, 2021, the Supreme Court of Ukraine upheld the decision to satisfy the claims of McDonald’s in a dispute with the Ukrainian holding Ascania-Trading on the complete cancellation of registrations of the Mc’Corn and MacCorn trademarks.
In 2018, McDonald’s filed a claim with the Kyiv Economic Court to invalidate the certificates for the Mc’Corn and MacCorn trademarks, which were registered back in 2010 for class 30 and 35 goods by Askania-Trading. Popcorn under these TM is produced in cooperation with the largest European producer of popcorn for cooking in a microwave oven, Danish company Popz Holding LLC.
According to McDonald’s, these trademarks violated McDonald’s rights and legally protected interests in the well-known McDonald’s trademark, others previously registered trademarks with the common word element “Mc”, which form a series of more than 80 separately registered Ukraine trademarks with a common verbal element “Mc (Mac)”.
In response, “Askania-Trading” filed a lawsuit to invalidate the decision of 2016 to recognize the well-known designation “Mc” in Ukraine.
The courts confirmed the decision on the well-known status of the Mc trademark in Ukraine.
However, the court in 2020 dismissed the claim of McDonald’s in full due to the omission of the statute of limitations.
The Court of Appeal overturned the decision of the first instance court and issued a new decision that fully satisfied McDonald’s claims. The Mc’Corn and MacCorn trademarks were canceled as those that reproduce and imitate the well-known McDonald’s trademark, which may cause confusion and also violate the rights of the American company.
Also, the court of appeal, on the basis of a proper study of the evidence collected in the case, concluded that the plaintiff had complied with the statute of limitations when applying to the court.
At the beginning of 2021, the Supreme Court rejected the appeal from Askania-Trading.