McDonald’s has lost a three-year trademark dispute against Hungry Jack’s over the sale of “Big Jack” burgers. The legal battle began in 2020 when McDonald’s claimed that Hungry Jack’s Big Jack and Mega Jack burgers violated the Big Mac trademark.
However, the federal court, on Thursday, dismissed the allegations, stating that neither burger brand was deceptively similar to the Big Mac and there was no trademark infringement by Hungry Jack’s.
Although McDonald’s succeeded in a separate consumer law claim, arguing that Hungry Jack’s misled consumers by advertising its Big Jack burger as containing “25% more Aussie beef” than the Big Mac, the court found that the actual content fell short of this claim.
Hungry Jack’s Chief Marketing Officer, Scott Baird, acknowledged the “cheekiness” in choosing the burger name but insisted it was not intended to mimic McDonald’s.
Justice Stephen Burley ruled that consumers would not be confused about the origin of Big Jack or Big Mac and found no evidence of intentional deception by Hungry Jack’s. The judge noted that Hungry Jack’s aimed to compete with McDonald’s using a name reminiscent of the Big Mac but distinct enough to avoid confusion.
In a similar assessment of Mega Jack and Mega Mac trademarks, Justice Burley concluded that Hungry Jack’s had not copied McDonald’s intentionally. However, he ruled against Hungry Jack’s in the consumer law breach related to the meat content marketing campaign. Testing revealed that the Big Jack burgers had significantly less additional beef than advertised.
The court also rejected Hungry Jack’s attempt to remove McDonald’s “Mega Mac” mark from the trademark register.
The case will proceed to a liability hearing, where Hungry Jack’s may face financial penalties for its misleading marketing campaign.
