Quality Inns International, Inc., announced a new chain of economy hotels to be marketed under the name
Question:
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":
a. Did not infringe on McDonald's trademark, because it had expired.
b. Infringed on McDonald's trademark, because consumers were likely to be confused.
c. Did not infringe on McDonald's trademark, because consumers would not believe McSleep Inns were owned by McDonald's.
d. Infringed on McDonald's trademark, because the two companies were competitors.
Expert Answer:
