In the German-speaking world, there seems to be a trend in the last few decades to invent business names by prepending “Mc” to some word (usually one with some association to the business type). Famous examples of national or international franchises here include the following:
McFit, an international chain of fitness centres, headquartered in Germany
McMakler, an international chain of real estate companies, headquartered in Germany (in German, the word Makler means “broker”, but more usually refers to a real estate agent)
I assume that all these names were inspired by McDonald’s, which, although not celebrated for the quality of its products, at least has reputations for ubiquity, consistency, reliable service, low price, and international presence, which other companies might want to evoke.
The thing is, I don’t recall this Mc- naming trend manifesting itself anywhere outside German-speaking Europe. Is this naming scheme a thing anywhere else in the world?
McPaper is also a German company, selling office equipment.
Might it be that the things you mentioned like consistency, reliability and so on are especially valued in Gemrany?
The only Mc- company names I’ve seen in the US have been (like McDonald’s) named after a person who actually had that name. Certainly no McCommonNoun or McAdjective.
Are “Fit”, “Shark”, and “Paper” also German words, or does this also use foreign (to German) words to sound cool?
“Fit” is an established borrowing. “Paper” and “Shark” aren’t, but are probably widely understood nonetheless, and yes, German marketers have long been obsessed with using English to sound cool. This practice has been much lampooned, as you will probably understood from the following music video (even if you don’t speak German):
I recall in the last maybe, 20 years, reading 3 or 4 articles about different instances of McDonald’s going after very small companies-- mostly people making stuff out of their homes-- and calling them “Mc-something” because the maker’s own name was Mc-something. McDonald’s pretty much has to do this, according to one article, to maintain its trademark.
So you won’t see this in the US, and if any other country has any sort of reciprocal arrangement on trademarks with the US, you won’t see it there either-- not that I have any idea whether such arrangements even exist.
I’d be interested in seeing those articles, because what you write doesn’t jibe with my understanding of how trademarks work. I mean, yes, holders are obliged to proactively police the use of their mark, but I wouldn’t expect that any competent court would consider simply having a company name starting with “Mc-” to be grounds for infringement. I suspect that there is a bit more to these stories than the two letters.
In the EU, McDonalds lost their trademark claim lawsuit last year or so. But I wonder if you can trademark parts of names. Does Apple have a trademark for “i-” or can I market a t-shirt called i-shirt?
McFit and McMakler are likely riffing on McDonalds, as both are intended to be seen as simple, inexpensive, efficient options in their respective spaces. No clue on McShark.
McDonalds is definitely protective of the “Mc” prefix (they don’t always win their lawsuits, but they usually do). Sleep Inn by Choice Hotels was originally going to be called McSleep until the judge ruled against them. There was also once a McVeggie, MacFlowers, and a McSteamy. The Mc naming trend can still be found in America as you’ll often hear terms like McMansion or McJob.
You certainly can trademark a shirt called iShirt, at least in the United States, because a USPTO search turns up four such trademarks. None of them are currently active, but all of them postdate Apple’s use of the i- prefix, and none of them were held by Apple itself.
It’s a reference to the movie Coming to America, where John Amos’s character owns a McDonald’s knockoff restaurant in Queens, New York, called McDowell’s.
There is a small coffee shop near me that used to be called McCoffee. McDonald’s notified them that they considered their name an infringement. They changed their name to “M Coffee”.
The closest thing to actually named after a person is “McCoffee”, a coffee shop run by a woman with the last name “McCaughey”. It’s not clear from the cite whether that one actually went to court.
If your name is McDonnel and you start a McDonnel’s restaurant and get a legal notice from the McDonald’s Corporation about a trademark issue, it’s almost certainly easier and cheaper to change your restaurant name than it is to (maybe) win a trademark battle against McDonald’s.
In both of those cases, there is an important element over and above the Mc- prefix. Namely, they’re both food service companies, not just some random people “making stuff out of their homes”. Your second (hypothetical) case is also marked by the fact that the entire business name is pronounced almost exactly the same as “McDonald’s”, which could lead to legitimate confusion among customers.
I had a quick glance at the list of cases you linked to but didn’t notice any that seemed to fit @RivkahChaya’s description. Almost all of the cases were against companies selling food and/or drinks, and a few more I looked at were selling other non-food products that McDonald’s also markets.
Yeah, I’m not claiming that RivkahChaya’s description is accurate, just providing a list of some McDonald’s trademark disputes. I doubt the list is complete, so there may be a cite closer to the claimed example.
I believe that my claim that, regardless of legal merit, if you have a tiny business, perhaps making stuff out of your home, and you get a trademark letter from McDonald’s, you’re gonna change your business name is on the money.
