Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia's highest court is due to decide whether the US fast-food chain McDonald's Corp would be allowed to pursue a trademark battle against a local restaurant named McCurry, a news report said Monday. In April, the court of appeal had overturned a 2006 High Court ruling that McCurry had illegally infringed on the fast-food giant's trademark prefix "Mc."
The court of appeal had ruled that McCurry Restaurant, which serves northern and southern Indian dishes in Kuala Lumpur, did not have any other association with McDonald's, saying its signage and menu had no link with the fast-food company.
The federal court said Monday that it would decide Tuesday if McDonalds may contest that decision, the official Bernama news agency said.
McDonald's claimed that the prefix "Mc" is a company trademark and that, with its usage, the McCurry restaurant had misrepresented itself as being associated with McDonald's businesses.
The McCurry restaurant contended that McDonald's could not claim a monopoly or exclusive rights to the use of "Mc" because the prefix was extensively used around the world in surnames.
McDonald's has more than 180 outlets in Malaysia, the first of which opened in 1982.
