Supermac’s has taken a major step in its plans for international expansion

The world could soon find out what all the fuss is about.

Ireland has known about the deliciousness of Supermac’s since Pat McDonagh opened his first restaurant in Ballinasloe in the late ‘70s and the popular fast food chain could soon be about to go global. Supermac’s has been linked with expanding internationally, even as far afield as Australia, in the recent past and the restaurant took a major step towards fulfilling that ambition today. The quick service restaurant has submitted a new EU Trademark Application to EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) formerly OHIM (Office for Harmonisation of the Internal Market). In January of this year, the EU upheld McDonald’s opposition to Supermac’s using its own brand in the EU because of the potential confusion it could cause with the McDonald’s brand. While that was a blow to expansion plans for Supermac’s, it was awarded trademark rights to use its brand and name in the EU. To ensure the company can move forward with its future international expansion plans, Supermac’s is applying to have the full range of products and services offered by the company covered by its trademark. The new application deals with the areas which would have been covered in the EU Trademark Appeal. Due to the new application submission, the EU Trademark Appeal has now been withdrawn. Essentially, all of this means that if the new Trademark Appeal is successful, Supermac’s will be free to open restaurants in other EU countries. Speaking about the new EU Trademark Application, Pat McDonagh, Managing Director of Supermac’s, said that “this is another progressive step forward for Supermac’s”. “Following on from OHIM’s decision, the EU Trademark needs to comply with each of the quality items we serve our customers,” McDonagh added. “For this reason we have made a new Trademark Application which we believe will have a strong chance of success across every single one of our products and services.”