991072 Burger King Wins “Big Kid's” BattleOctober 26, 1999Miami - Burger King said a Michigan federal judge had refused rival McDonald's request to stop the Miami-based fast-food chain from using the name “Big Kid's Meal” on its burger combo marketed to children aged 7 to 12. The ruling settled a dispute between the nation's two biggest hamburger chains over who came up with the idea first for a “Bid Kid's” combo meal aimed at hungry preteens. Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald's Corp. filed an unfair competition lawsuit against Burger King, a unit of Diageo Plc, in U.S. District Court in Detroit in June. It claimed in the suit that Burger King had copied McDonald's own “Big Kids Meal” combo. The lawsuit said the red and orange-gold colors and the design of Burger King's “Big Kid's Meal” logo were strikingly similar to the ones McDonald's used during a 17-day test of its product in the suburban Detroit area. McDonald's sought an injunction barring Burger King from using the name for its combo meal, which contained two large cheeseburgers, a large order of french fries and a soft drink. In a ruling Friday, U.S. District Judge John O'Meara refused to grant the injunction. He said McDonald's filed a trademark application for the name “Big Kid's Meal” in July 1998, but that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had refused in March 1999 to register the trademark on grounds that the name was merely descriptive. The court's ruling also noted that McDonald's had only used the name for 17 days during a test sale of its combo meal in May and June 1998 in a limited geographic area, the Detroit area. McDonald's version included two large cheeseburgers, a larger order of french fries, a soft drink and discount coupons for an amusement park O'Meara ruled that McDonald's failed to prove the name “Big Kid's Meal” was linked to McDonald's “in the minds of the consuming public.” Nor did it show the public was likely to be confused, since both companies have highly identifiable markings and since Burger King had used its own name or the initials “BK” to refer to its product, the judge said. “It is difficult to imagine that any consumer visiting a restaurant of either party would believe that he or she is at the other party's restaurant,” O'Meara said in the ruling. McDonald's could not be reached for comment on the ruling after the close of the business day Friday. Burger King introduced its “BK Big Kid's Meal” nationally in June 1999.
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