The Mc"Clans" are In Danger

[CDNSushi]

I think we should all go out for a nice glass of "Johnny Walker",my treat......John R. Walker

Whew! I agree - time out, you guys! Take a break. Trademark and copyright laws are extremely complex and we likely won't get to the bottom of it with this one emotionally charged discussion. I had to read an entire chapter on this when I did my "Business Law" course last year as part of my MBA studies. It really is a tricky issue, and although there are certain basic guidelines (like not being able to trademark the letter "A" for instance), there's a LOT of gray area and room for multiple interpretations. I really don't want to get into it much more than this, but commonly used nouns often cannot be trademarked. Take for instance Coca-Cola's unsuccessful attempt at trademarking the word "cola." It was disallowed in part because the word had become common parlance in describing an entire type of beverage, rather than just one particular company's take on it. So yes, there are rules governing what seems to be a mess and I would recommend leaving that mess to the parties involved.

However, recognizing that we have many activists and kindered spirits on the forum, again, I would repeat what I said early on in the thread. If you are so fired about this, consider getting the head of your clan or association to contact McD's and express your sentiments.

[MacKay71]

If they put "Mac" intstead of "Mc" in front of it, would there still be a problem?

[berserkbishop]

I dont really see this as corporate bullying. I have no love for McDonalds (my first job in high school), but I dont see them as an evil corporation picking on this girl. They have tried to be more than fair about the entire thing. I think she needs to stop being a publicity hound and just drop the trademark request. This entire thing screams of publicity stunt to me and I dont really see why people are so fired up about it. I guess we like to always support the underdog, but this is just another case of public supporting the little guy against the "evil corporation," despite the fact the legally and in my opinion morally, the "evil corporation" has been very generous in their offers to help fix the problem. Just my opinion FLAME AWAY!

Bishop

[Tobus]

To be fair, they are not blocking her use of McFest for charity at all, just blocking her trademarking it as they already own that trademark. I can't fault them for that.

But that's the thing... they don't own the trademark on the name "McFest". They own trademarks on other "Mc" names, but not ALL of them. This action of theirs - trying to block her trademark - is an attempt to wrangle ownership over ALL "Mc" names. Even ones they hadn't thought of yet. They don't want to actually trademark all "Mc" names; they just want to stop anyone else from using them, and that's pretty poor sportsmanship on their part.

I think she needs to stop being a publicity hound and just drop the trademark request.

Being a publicity hound is how she raises money for charity. I can't fault her for that.

[berserkbishop]

Raising money for charity by putting it in front of a crowd is one thing, but getting people fired up about a "David and Goliath" situation is hardly about her raising money for the charity. Apparently the charity did just fine before this debacle.

[MacLowlife]

A while back, someone mentioned SCOTLAND PA, which is a great movie. The screen credits list William Shakespeare for the story. You have Christopher Walken as Inspector MacDuff, you have an Italian guy named Banconi, shortened to Banco, and you have the McBeths, a nice guy and his ambitious wife. They both work for a guy named Duncan, who used to be in the doughnut business. McBeth invents the drive through window, among other things. If you enjoy the music of Bad Company, or 70s Camaros, you will love it.

[Lachlan09]

Let's open a rival burger chain called "Campbells". The motto can be "Our burgers massacre the opposition !"

[The Guy in the Kilt at UC]

So if Ms. McCluskey's company is granted the trademarks rights to "McFest", and later on someone else files a trademark request for "McFeste", and McCluskey's company chooses to file an objection to the request for trademark, is she being a bully?

Or is it bullying only if the objections are filed by large corporations?

Depends on the situation. Is there evidence of attempted "stolen corporate identity"? Is the new trademark seeker in your example looking to profit off of her idea? Or is it a totally unrelated product/service/event, where no reasonable person would confuse the two?

That's what will make it a difference between a reasonable case and bullying. Trademarks exist for the purpose of protecting a company's business from fraudulent behavior. But when there's no possible evidence of fraud, and not even a reasonable case to be made that the newcomer's name will damage the trademark holder's business, there's no sensible reason to deny the newcomer his or her own unique trademark.

I think this is going to get confusing, with trademark infringement cases depending on the situation. When things get complex, I try to make a diagram or an equation to figure everything out. So here goes:

poor people = good
rich people = bad

So in our case, McDonald's is bad because they are rich. They are using their wealth to bully a poor person (who is good). Now MoR's hypothetical situation would only cause outrage if McFeste is poor and McFest is bad. So if her charity organization had grown and McCluskey had used the profits for lavish fundraisers and such, then that would be the same as being rich (which is bad).

The only complexity is if 2 poor people are involved, in which case I think it is settled by a cage match.

[CDNSushi]

When things get complex, I try to make a diagram or an equation to figure everything out. So here goes:

poor people = good
rich people = bad

I am assuming that you are being sarcastic...

[The Guy in the Kilt at UC]

I am assuming that you are being sarcastic...

I'm just trying to find a pattern in my observations. My young mind is still trying to figure out how the world works. Society seems to have separate expectations for different groups. I'm not saying what should be done; I'm trying to find the pattern of reaction to what is being done.

...except for the cage match. That is sarcasm. I don't think it'll be easy to get poor people into a cage.