MCDONALD'S CORPORATION v B. AWTAR SINGH A/L BALWANT SINGH TRADING AS MC SPICY CURRY HOUSE

wa-24ip-19-05-2025 High Court (Mahkamah Tinggi) 6 October 2025 • WA-24IP-19-05/2025 • 43 min read
11 cases cited (1 SG, 10 foreign)

Outcome

For these reasons, the appeal is allowed with costs of RM 10,000. The decision of the learned Registrar of Trademarks dated 28 February 2025 is hereby set aside. An order is granted that the Plaintiff’s Opposition is upheld and that the Defendant’s Trademark Application No. 03005153 for the mark “MC CURRY” be refused.

Quoted verbatim from the judgment of High Court (Mahkamah Tinggi) (wa-24ip-19-05-2025). Read the full judgment on the official Malaysia Courts portal for the complete decision.

Catchwords

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW — Trademark Opposition and Registration — Evaluation of the likelihood of confusion between trademarks — Plaintiff has cultivated a distinctive “Mc/Mac” family of marks — Defendant applied to register trademark of the mark “MC CURRY” in Class 29 — Plaintiff's opposition to the registration was dismissed by the Registrar — Determination of whether marks are confusingly similar — whether the goods are of such a nature that the public could reasonably believe they originate from the same source — Applicability of the "Family of Marks" Doctrine — Court allowed the originating summons and set aside the Registrar's decision — sections 14(1)(a), 14(1)(d), 19(1)(b), and 25(1) of the Trademarks Act 1976

Practice Areas

Intellectual Property Civil Procedure

Judges (1)

Edwin Paramjothy a/l Michael Muniandy Delivered

Counsel (5)

SS Thind Firm Shearn Delamore & Co. Firm Indran Shanmuganathan Counsel Plaintiff Shamsher Singh Thind Counsel Defendant Sim Sook Eng Counsel Plaintiff

Parties (2)

MCDONALD'S CORPORATION Applicant B. Awtar Singh a/l Balwant Singh Trading As Mc Spicy Curry House Respondent

Cases Cited (11)

SG (1)
[2018] SGHC 238
MY (10)
[1998] 4 MLJ 105 [2008] 3 MLJ 574 [2008] 8 CLJ 44 [2009] 3 MLJ 774 [2010] 1 MLJ 242 [2010] 2 AMR 1 [2016] 5 MLJ 768 [2019] MLJU 422 [2019] MLJU 552 [2022] MLJU 1788

Judgment

Read the full judgment on the official Malaysia Courts portal.

Read on eJudgment

Source: eJudgment (wa-24ip-19-05-2025)