McDonald's is suing a Ukrainian cafe over its name, although it looks like the corporation got it all wrong

The global restaurant chain McDonald's is threatening to sue the owners of the Kavamak coffee shop in Khmelnitsky. The conflict began in January 2023. The Ukrainian lawyers of the transnational chain of restaurants turned to the spouses, who have been running the coffee business in Khmelnytsky for many years, reports “Glavcom".

Photo: IStock

“Obviously, the name of TM Kavamak consists of the syllable “Poppy”. This name can be confused with the well-known Mc mark, which belongs to McDonald's and has the highest degree of legal protection," Dubinsky and Osharova, a Kyiv-based law firm (representing McDonald's), argued in a letter to Khmelnytsky-based entrepreneur Andrei Dushkevich, the owner of a coffee shop.

The family of Andrei and Yulia Dushkevich has been engaged in the wholesale and retail sale of coffee beans, repair and maintenance of coffee machines for about 12 years. Has clients all over Ukraine. In 2018, the Kavamak coffee shop was opened in Khmelnitsky.

On the subject: McDonald's offers a wedding package for 100 guests: such a feast will cost $2 per person

“The names of our three children are encrypted in the name Kavamak: Katya, Vanya and Makar. We even brand coffee products in this way, writing the syllables of children's names in capital letters: KaVaMak,” Yulia Dushkevich explained.

But such explanations did not convince McDonald's strict lawyers. They continue to insist that the Dushkevich family of entrepreneurs should voluntarily give up their trademark. Otherwise, they threaten to sue.

What will happen to Kavamak

Andrey Dushkevich filed an application for registration of the Kavamak trademark in February 2021. It was registered only at the beginning of January 2023.

McDonald's lawyers dismantled a registered trademark for details. In addition to Kavamak, there is also an additional inscription “Rosteria coffee” nearby, as well as an image of a poppy flower with a coffee bean.

“The designation Kavamak, which includes the “Kava” part, probably means the Ukrainian word for coffee, and “Mak” probably means the Ukrainian word for poppy as a plant. At the same time, the designation Kavamak and, accordingly, its component syllable “poppy” are made in English, and the plant “poppy” is in no way associated with coffee products... As a result of adding the element “Poppy” to your designation, you may knowingly or inadvertently create the misconception that there is an association with the popular and well-known McDonald's brand. Our client is concerned that the registration and use of the Kavamak trademark is a violation of his intellectual property rights,” states the Dubinsky and Osharova law firm.

Like the article? Support ForumDaily!?

Defenders of the rights of the restaurant chain even took on the role of marketers and suggested that entrepreneur Andrei Dushkevich instead of Kavamak apply for registration of a new brand, Kavamax or Kavamakova.

Surprisingly, the McDonald's lawyers' version of Kavamakova also has the syllable "poppy"! But in this form, for some reason, everything suits them.

“It doesn’t fit in my head, why should someone from the outside impose an incomprehensible name? - Yulia Dushkevich, the businessman's wife, is surprised. – I don't want to be Kavamakova! Moreover, the first and only McDonald's restaurant opened in Khmelnitsky only in August 2021. Our coffee shop Kavamak has been operating here for several years.”

The entrepreneur admitted: after McDonald's claims, the family coffee business was at a crossroads. The Duskevich family planned to open two more coffee houses in the city. But now they do not know what to do with the name of even the first institution.

“As a way out of the situation, we proposed: we remove the letter “A” from the syllable “poppy”. Leave the underscore instead. By the way, the cafe page on Instagram was renamed in this way to kavam_k.coffee. However, McDonald's was not satisfied with this idea. The law office wrote that such a name could be associated with consumers from McDonald's,” Yulia Dushkevich threw up her hands.

How a florist from Kyiv lost McDonald's

The story from Khmelnytskyi is not the first “collision” of the world brand on representatives of small or medium-sized businesses in Ukraine. Here is the story of the collapse of the McFlower flower brand following the McDonald's lawsuit.

Back in 2020, Yevgeny Leskiv, a resident of Kiev, registered the McFlower trademark for use in business activities, in particular, in flower arrangement and landscape design. However, McDonald's considered this a violation of the law. In particular, according to the plaintiff, people may confuse McFlower with the world-famous McDonald's brand due to the common element Mc ("Poppy"). The American company added: it is present in many countries, its trademarks were registered in Ukraine in 1995. That is, much earlier than the controversial trademark.

At the same time, the resident of Kiev asked the court to dismiss McDonald's lawsuit. He explained that he did not use the McFlower trademark in the same area as the plaintiff. This brand is used exclusively in the sale of flowers and cannot mislead customers in any way, since McDonald's is not a well-known flower company and has never been in this business.

In the end, the court took the side of the world giant. Themis supported her arguments with an examination, which admitted: the McFlower trademark “is so similar that it can be confused with McDonald's International Property Company, Ltd., the well-known Mc trademark.” Also, a controversial trademark can mislead people about the services that it provides McDonald's company.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants, and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read all this on ForumDaily New York.

As of July 2023, the McFlower trademark certificate is not valid.

Read also on ForumDaily:

You can stay at Barbie's Malibu house for free and experience Ken's entertainment

The pilot answered the questions that most concern air passengers

Residents of 17 states will soon be able to see the northern lights: how to watch them

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.