Intellectual Property Rights Discussion
Quality Inns International, Inc., announced a new chain of economy hotels to be marketed under the name McSleep Inns. McDonald’s Corp. spends approximately $1 billion on advertising each year to ensure that the vast majority of Americans are familiar with its logo and its “Mc” products. McDonald’s filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction preventing Quality Inns from using the prefix “Mc.” McDonald’s claimed that the use of the name McSleep infringed on the McDonald’s family of trademarks characterized by the prefix “Mc” attached to a generic term. Quality Inns claimed that “Mc” had come into generic use as a prefix and that McDonald’s had no trademark rights to the prefix itself. The court most likely found that Quality’s use of the prefix “Mc”: . state the reasons why the term “Mc” is a generic term and how the use of the term by Quality Inn does not infringe McDonald’s trademark? . Intellectual property rights are included in the U.S. Constitution. Explain why the Founding Fathers would provide for such a right in the U.S. Constitution. . Explain why a personal, corporate or business “name” important. ( Consider your name or going to your favorite restaurant or purchasing your favorite brand. What makes the brand important and recognizable wherever you see it?)
