Can McDonalds stop me?

[smashfactory]

can i buy things like mcDog.com or mcCar.com
can mcdonalds take the domain since they started the "mc"thing?

 

[Electric-Shadow]

Hi

of course McDonalds is a scottish surname, i should knwo i am scottish lol.

something like McDonaldsCoupons.com could cause legal issues to arise but McDogs.com is ok but its just opinion so dont quote me on that, as long as you dont use it to gain of McDonalds purposley see above for example of that.

I'm no expert on legal issues regarding domains but if your so worried then it would probably do you the world of good not bothering with getting the domain.

 

[smashfactory]

well at this point i am probably not going to do a thing with it now that i am shakin in my boots- the name was mcpeople.com- and i just saw it as a neat name for a social site-

 

[Ben42]

well at this point i am probably not going to do a thing with it now that i am shakin in my boots- the name was mcpeople.com- and i just saw it as a neat name for a social site-

I should think your safe, this has nothing to do with the fast food place. Mc's meating other Mc's. A fine idea. Good luck with it.

 

[ecigs.net]

McDonalds didn't start the MC Thing, people did. McDonald's isn't a thing, it's a name. If they did start it, they would be called McHamburger, right? Where you would have problems is if you made McGarbage and made your website look like theirs.

Here's a real time example of a McThing: McFit.com / McFit.de?

If you really think about it, they are the exact opposite of McDonalds. It is an agressive attack on their product. The colors are bright Gold and Blue.

McFit.de would be squashed overnight if it was a problem. They are big enough to attract attention. German laws are really tough on these things and if there was any doubt, it would already be gone. There are companies in Germany that make a living by hunting done Internet problems like this, having false data, etc..

You should, however, still the hell away from:

McFastFood, McFrenchFries, McHappy and anything that could be one of their areas of business now or in the future.

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PS: I forgot. Most people aren't designers and might miss the point about the colors. When I say Gold I mean yellow. Yellow, Red and Blue are primary colors. McDonalds use two of these colors: Gold and Red. McFit uses two also: Gold and Blue. There is no doubt that is by design and done intentionally.

 

[smashfactory]

i was reading the article posted earlier in the thread- i do think that if it is done right- i can get it so that it is its "own thing"- and when asked, people would not think mcdonalds owned it- like in the article.

by the way- thanks for all the responses- am on a few forums, and some just never respond to anything- thank you!

 

[Ben42]

Well I looked at the uspto and there are over 500 Live TM's that use Mc in them.

From the looks of them most aren't the fast food chain. If you wanted to make a McRib site that would be one thing, but you look safe with this one. By the way there is even a McDonald that is TM'd that belongs to a manufacting corporation. It's really all about use.

Anyway, if there is ever a question use this search:
http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=searchss&state=d6cclj.1.1

 

[ecigs.net]

I looked at McHouse.com, McCar.com (He'll never have a problem. It's his name.), McBoat.com, McCat.com, McHosting.com and they all have some sort of a website there. I could probably find sites all day long.

I'm in Germany and believe it or not, I've never heard of McRib. That's funny. I took a look at McRib.com. They actually sell it (sold it). It is of course taken by McDonalds. McRib.net (some kind of fake ticket sales site) and McRib.org are registered by other people.

Now, what you should really look at here is McRib.org. They are now calling themselves McRobbed. Could it be that McDonalds sent their McLawyers over to the site for a little McVisit? If so, it definitely is a sign that they protect their Billion Dollar Trademark.

I agree with Ben42 though. Use is everything. So, stay away from food that they sell or may want to sell. I noticed that McHotDog.com is owned and so is McBurger.com. I sure wouldn't buy McRibSauce, without a bit of concern. Just because they haven't sued those owners today, doesn't mean that they won't do it tomorrow, especially, if the site were to become famous.
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MCPeople is a cool name. I'd buy that one immediately. Since you posted the name here, it probably will be gone within a few hours. My name is McAllister. I could probably get away with McPeople pretty easily.

 

[smashfactory]

mcallister! well, you have the right to use the old "mc" thing
i love the name- it really will make an incredible social type site- there are so many great names out there, but this one was just clicky with me- and i think it would generate its own following. it just makes people- all equal, in my eyes anyway- (i have thought into this domain alot )
and no- there have been no side offers

 

[ecigs.net]

mcallister! well, you have the right to use the old "mc" thing
i love the name- it really will make an incredible social type site- there are so many great names out there, but this one was just clicky with me- and i think it would generate its own following. it just makes people- all equal, in my eyes anyway- (i have thought into this domain alot )
and no- there have been no side offers

The domain name is awesome. MCPeople. You are right, all people are equal, we're McPeople.That's totally cool. It could easily be a cult site. It sounds very culty to me. It makes kind of a joke that we are all kind of mass processed now; but doesn't slam it, just accepts it. Nice. I'm jealous. I wish I would have thought of it.

Just think of all the times you've heard people complain that all the good COMs are gone. That just shows what a little creativity will do. McPeople is a great, short name with tons of potential. All you have to do is hear that once and boom its in memory. I really love it. I hope you spent the extra funds and picked up all the other gTLDs, especially the MOBI. That's always a big expense, but in this case worth it.

Good luck with developing it.

 

[Ronald Regging]

Well I just had the brilliant idea to register McWhopper.com to put up a spoof site, kind of like the MSFirefox.com one, but apparently someone else thought it was a great idea 2 days ago!!! Maybe one of you guys! haha

 

[ecigs.net]

Here's a link to find German Trademarks: https://dpinfo.dpma.de/protect/mar_e.html

If you run a search on McFit, you'll see that there are a total of 8 McFit Trademarks:

30616617.8 22.09.2006 McFit
30616615.1 22.09.2006 McFit Trainings-Logbuch
30616614.3 22.09.2006 McFit i Terminal
30616613.5 22.09.2006 McFit i Terminal
30616612.7 22.09.2006 McFit Muskelnavigator
30616610.0 22.09.2006 McFit Channel
39865191.4 12.08.1999 DIE FITNESSHALLE FÜR ALLE McFit
39701104.0 30.08.1997 McFit

Considering that the oldest McFit Trademark is from 1997, McDonald's isn't likely going to be able to win a despute. By not stopping them in 1997, they have passively given them permission to use the name.

In the USA, there is also a McFit ServiceMark. The serial number is: Serial Number: 77020401. It was filed in October 13, 2006 and can be found using the link to the US trademarks posted earlier in this thread. Of course, that doesn't mean anything. McCoffee of San Fransisco was in operation for 17 years before McGreedy squashed them. What is interesting is that McCoffee was owned by a McPeople, namely: McCaughey.

What is even more amazing about McFit is that McDonald's previously held a Trademark for the name in 1993 but ABANDONED it. There is also a Trademark on record for 2004 (owned by McDonald's) but it is listed as Dead and Canceled. How is it possible for McFit to use a name that McDonald's owned?

McFit in Germany (which has 68 Locations) has held their Trademark undisputed for 9 years even though McDonald's had the same name Trademarked in the USA back in 1993. By not stopping them, they are giving there approval to the name.

When reading about the McSleep case, I found this line:

"[26] TRADE REGULATION 339 382 339
If use of a particular mark brings another company to mind, but without confusion that the other company is behind the product or service, there is no trademark violation." Because I may have taken it out of context, I include the link: http://hyper.vcsun.org/HyperNews/djordan/get/law10sp20chp9iplaw/169.html


In the case of McPeople, there are so many ways to use the name that does not create confusion between that project and McDonald's. I can think of several dozen.

Nevertheless, in Wikipedia, there is a list of McDonald's legal cases against people using Mc. Here's the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald's_legal_cases

What's very scarry is that in almost all the cases, McDonalds has won, except one. That at first is impressive, however, in the two cases in the UK, McDonald's lost the more recent case. Could times have changed?
That case was against McChina Wok Away (UK) (2001) in which the court ruled that McDonald's had no right to the prefix Mc.

"But that all changed Nov. 27 when London High Court Judge David Neuberger ruled the name was neither confusing nor deceptive to customers. According to the Associated Press, the judge stated that while McDonald's held the rights to a number of "Mac" and "Mc" type names, the company was "virtually seeking to monopolize all names and words with prefix Mc or Mac, at least in relation to food or restaurant services."

Judge Neuberger, adding insult to injury, said McDonald's had titled several of its menu items, such as Chicken McNugget Shanghai, Oriental McRib and McFortune Cookie, with an Oriental flavor."

That can be found at: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_50_35/ai_80748716

There's no doubt that McDonald's aggressively protects itself. They have the money to do it. Might makes right. Thee shall win who haveth the most expensive lawyer. Yet, could it be that McDonald's industrial McPower is stronger in the USA. It would appear that in Europe (McFit and McChina for example) it is possible to use what in reality does not belong to the McCorporation McDonald's, namely the prefix Mac and Mc. It should also be noted that many Europeans dislike what they consider the mcdonaldization (meaning americanization) of their culture.

Quite frankly, the mere idea that McDonald's is trying to McBully the entire McPlanet into saying all things "Mc" belongs to them is purely absurd. The name is older than McAmerica is. My McGod, isn't that a little McArrogant!! As one McPerson wrote, this is..."cultural imperialism on a massive scale."