News

McDonald’s forces name change for new restaurant

June 9, 2010 7:00 am by Tracey Taylor
Allison Arevalo and Erin Wade

Allison Arevalo and Erin Wade, whose new restaurant is suddenly nameless.

Berkeley blogger and soon-to-be restaurateur Allison Arevalo found herself in a David and Goliath situation last week when fast-food behemoth McDonald’s let her know it would sue if she went ahead with the chosen name for her new Oakland restaurant: Little Mac.

Arevalo and Erin Wade, co-owner of the new restaurant which will specialize in macaroni and cheese, rapidly determined they could not afford either the time nor the money to fight a lawsuit, and have abandoned the name they have been using for the new restaurant for the past six months.

The pair had already invested in the name and were associated with it. “We had developed a logo and a website with that name and all the press coverage we have had in the run-up to the opening has used the name,” said Wade.

Arevalo said they consulted a lawyer before choosing the name who told them to go ahead and use it because there would be no brand confusion with McDonald’s. “We are not trying to profit from a McDonald’s association,” said Arevalo. “We couldn’t be further from McDonald’s in that we use artisanal cheeses and local ingredients and our focus is totally local.”

The news that McDonald’s would take action came in a phone call Wade made to the company’s corporate council after friends expressed their concern over a potential conflict. Wade, a former attorney, who attended UC Berkeley’s law school, decided to double-check with McDonald’s to see if there could be any complications.

Wade was told that McDonald’s takes issue with any name with the word “Mac” or “Mc” in it. When she mentioned other restaurants whose names contained those words, she was told that if a  restaurant came under McDonald’s radar the company would take action. (McDonald’s had not responded to a call from Berkeleyside at the time this story went live.)

The news came 48 hours before the pair was about to debut their mac and cheese dishes for a crowd of thousands at the SF Underground Farmers’ Market, hosted by Forage SF.

With a suddenly nameless venture, Arevalo and Wade hit on the idea of a “Name Our Restaurant” contest. They enlisted friends to hand out flyers explaining their situation, and asked people to submit ideas. The winner of the contest will receive a lifetime of free mac and cheese.

So far, they have had a great response with many suggested names — including Macalicious, Back to the Mac, Elbow Room and Nice & Cheesy.

The problem, said Arevalo, is that 70% of the suggestions have the word “Mac” in them. ”It just shows how hard it is to find a name for a mac and cheese place without the word Mac,” she said.

Update 8.34am: In a statement received by McDonald’s at 8.30am today, the company writes:

The facts of this situation are inaccurate.  This restaurateur actually contacted McDonald’s legal department to discuss her trademark concerns with her potential restaurant name. We had a cordial conversation and suggested she seek independent advice.  At no time was legal action threatened nor was any legal correspondence sent.

8 Comments

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  • Cliff Magnes

    The answer to this is so easy. Call the restaurant “Little Macaroni.” Keep the same logo, just add the full word “macaroni,” which can’t be trademarked (or infringed) and those golden arch clowns can’t do anything about it.

    If the restaurant is successful, and everyone starts calling it “Little Mac,” there’s nothing Mickey Dees can do about it. Just because it has the three letters m-a-c in it, doesn’t mean the purveyor of the worst junk food on the planet can claim it. Any more than they can claim the word that it both tastes like and turns into.

  • tizzielish

    I like Cliff’s suggestion, Little Macaroni.

    Then I wonder if the restaurant chain called Macaroni Grill might object. I have always thought that was an odd name for a restaurant: who grills Macaroni? I haven’t eaten in a Macaroni Grill in years — are they still around? — but my sister was really into it about ten years ago so I went with her several times. I don’t remember anyone in our party having macaroni.

    I understand the McDonald company’s objection to the phrase ‘Little Mac’. The first time I read about their new venture and read the phrase ‘little mac’, I immediately associated their chosen name with ‘Big Mac’.

    I am sorry these budding entrepreneurs have come upon a setback but something tells me they will do well . . . and end up with a much better name.

  • tizzielish

    I just visited Ms. Arevalo’s blog as well as the blog for her restaurant. McDonald’s never sent them a letter threatening legal action. Erin Wade, one of the restaurant owners, is an attorney. Friends ‘back east’ immediately began associating the name ‘little mac’ with the McDonald Big Mac so, even though these women consulted an attorney who advised them that they should be able to use the name ‘little mac’, Ms.Wade actually talked to someone at McDonald’s and that someone informed her that McDonald’s probably would object . .. so these smart young women decided to change course.

    McDonald’s did not actually threaten them. These young women are being smart.

    I know that journalistic standards are changing but this story has spread all over and it is based on facts not in evidence. I talk like that because I am also an attorney. McDonald’s never threatened to sue them and never even wrote them a letter. Ms. Arevalo says so on her blog.

  • http://www.tktaylor.com Tracey Taylor

    Tizzielish: I reported this story and interviewed both Allison Arevalo and Erin Wade. Arevalo said McDonald’s would sue if a restaurant with the name Little Mac began operation.

  • Cliff Magnes

    tizzilish,

    Excellent points, I just wanted to make sure that everyone noticed that the points you mentioned were included in a correction to article which got posted at 8:34 this morning. Journalistic standards seem pretty high, here on Berkeleyside.

  • Cliff Magnes

    Tracey Taylor,

    We were writing the same thing at the same time! Synchronicity.

  • http://www.tktaylor.com Tracey Taylor

    Tizzielish: Also, the story does not say McDonald’s sent Arevalo and Wade a letter. I reported what Arevalo and Wade told me and called McDonald’s for their comment who issued a statement after the story had gone live.

  • Redbeard_argggg

    I intend to pursue legal action if the word “little’ is used in their business name. It would cause brand confusion as this adjective is commonly used to describe my daughter and her attention span.