After several years of litigation between the Irish fast-food chain Supermac's (Holdings) Ltd and McDonald's International Property Co Ltd over the EU trademark "Big Mac", McDonald's has suffered a defeat at the General Court of the European Union (GCJ).

In 2017, Supermac's filed an application with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to cancel the EU trademark "Big Mac", first registered by McDonald's in 1996 (EU Trademark No. 62638). Supermac's based its request for cancellation on the fact that McDonald's had not made sufficient use of the trademark over the previous five years. The application for cancelation was partially granted by the EUIPO, but McDonald's retained its rights to the EU trademark for meat and poultry meals, sandwiches and restaurant services.

Supermac's then appealed to the General Court of the European Union in Luxembourg, which overturned the previous decision of the EUIPO and further restricted McDonald's trademark rights to the "Big Mac" trademark (T-58/23). On 5 June 2024, the ECJ ruled that McDonald's had in fact also lost its exclusive rights to the "Big Mac" trademark for poultry meals, chicken sandwiches and restaurant services, all due to lack of use. However, sufficient use of the trademark for beef products was found, so McDonalds retains the protection of the “Big Mac” trademark in this instance.

The judgment of the GCJ can still be appealed to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) as the supreme court of the European Union. Regardless of the outcome of any appeal, the GCJ ruling demonstrates the importance of trademark owners actively and demonstrably using their trademarks for all registered goods and services in order to prevent the trademark from being cancelled by third parties due to non-use.