"MacCoffee" Confusingly Similar To "McCafe" Says Court Of Ap

  "MacCoffee" Confusingly Similar To "McCafe" Says Court Of Appeal



The long standing dispute between 3-in-1 coffeemix maker, Future Enterprises Pte Ltd and fast food giant, McDonald's Corp, came to an end in March 2007 when the Court of Appeal decided that Future's mark "MacCoffee", on its own, was confusingly similar to McDonald's "McCafe", both marks being used on coffee products.



The Court of Appeal, upholding the decisions of the High Court in September 2006 and of IPOS in November 2005, disallowed registration of Future's trade mark application for the word "MacCoffee" for coffeemix in Class 30. McDonald's had opposed based on the grounds that "MacCoffee" was confusingly similar to their registered mark "McCafe" for coffee in Class 30, under Section 8(2) of the Trade Marks Act. However, Future may continue to use its earlier registered mark "MacCoffee" which appears below an eagle device, on its coffee products.



In 1994 and 1995, Future applied for four marks which comprised the eagle device together with the words "MacCoffee", "MacTea", "MacChocolate" and "MacNoodles". McDonalds opposed the last three applications, but not the application for "MacCoffee". IPOS found that Future's marks with the eagle devices, were not confusingly similar to those of McDonald's in 2003. This decision was upheld by the High Court in 2004 and the Court of Appeal in 2005.