Published September 9, 2009

McDonald's will have to coexist with McCurry

By PAULINE NG
IN KUALA LUMPUR

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THE tussle between the proverbial David and Goliath has come to an end - the world's largest restaurant chain, McDonald's, will just have to coexist with Malaysia's McCurry following a decision by the country's highest court to allow the latter to continue using the Mc pre-fix.

Jubilant: Owner Mr Suppiah will now proceed to expand his business from the current one outlet in KL

Malaysia's Federal Court yesterday disallowed an appeal by fast food giant McDonald's against McCurry for trademark infringement saying its case had 'no merit' and ordered the American multinational to pay the Indian fast food outlet RM10,000 (S$4075.04) in costs.

AP quoted McCurry's lawyer Sri Devi Nair as saying that the ruling means McDonald's does not own the monopoly on 'Mc' and that others could use it - so long as they could distinguish their food.

Indeed, McCurry's had argued its spicier menu of fish head curry and briyani had little in common to McDonald's and that its name was an abbreviation for Malaysian chicken curry. It had also pointed out how distinctly different its signboard was.

Ecstatic to have triumphed following yesterday's unanimous decision by the three-man court, McCurry owner P Suppiah indicated that he would now proceed to expand his business from the current one outlet in Kuala Lumpur.

If nothing else, public curiosity over the Malaysians who dared take on the American goliath could serve to increase patronage at McCurry whose slogan is 'Home food, away from home, Tasty and so Gooood . . . '.

One of thousands of curry joints in the country, the little-known restaurant which has its own website offering cooking tips, has become almost a household name after the eight-year curry battle. 'Before the court case, only a few people know about McCurry; now with compliments from McDonald's Malaysia, the whole world will know about McCurry,' a member of the public wrote anonymously on a news portal.

McDonald's has some 137 outlets in Malaysia under a local franchise owned by a company controlled by businessman Vincent Tan. In 2006, the High Court had ruled in favour of McDonald's but the judgment was later overturned in the Court of Appeal, a decision which McDonald's had appealed against.