Supermacs will appeal the European ruling that it isn't allowed to trade under its current name in Europe.

The fast food chain lost a court battle to sell using the Supermacs brand in Europe, partly because of its similarity to McDonalds.

The EU Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM) found in favour of McDonald's, who claimed that trading under the name of Supermacs would create confusion for consumers between the two different brands. 

The Irish Independent reports that the Irish chain will appeal the decision.

Speaking to The Irish Times, founder Pat McDonagh said that the decision by OHIM "doesn’t make sense. We are allowed register the name but aren’t allowed sell the products that Supermacs sell. The brand has been used for over the last 35 years without a problem - it doesn’t make logical sense - that would be the main ground on the appeal". 

The company has also withdrawn their trademark application in Australia, however Supermacs bosses say this is purely a tactical move, and they will re-apply in a few months.

Mr McDonagh did not reveal how the new application would differ from the the previous one, saying only that they had "learned a lot from the European decision so we have to adjust the application accordingly". 

Via The Irish Times