BIG MAC APPEAL: McDONALD'S APPEALS EU DECISION TO CANCEL TRADEMARK - Fast food giant McDonald's has appealed the EU trademark office decision cancelling a trademark for "Big Mac".
In the latest round of the brand battle between McDonald’s and Galway-based Supermac's, the US fast food giant has lodged notice of appeal with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) based in Alicante, Spain, says the Irish Times. McDonald's has yet to lodge grounds of appeal. It is expected to take at least one year for the EUIPO to decide on the McDonald's appeal. This will further delay Supermac's application to have its own trademark registered Europe-wide to enable the business to expand. That application is being strenuously opposed by McDonald's, and the EUIPO has told each party in correspondence that the Supermac’s trademark application will not be made until the "Big Mac" trademark cancellation dispute is finalised. Supermac's managing director, Pat McDonagh, said the McDonald's move to appeal the "Big Mac" cancellation ruling was "a delaying tactic" concerning Supermac's plans to make its brand Europe-wide. He said the issues concerning the "Big Mac" trademark cancellation was "a sideshow compared to the real prize of getting the Supermac’s brand registered across Europe" for selling fast food. Mr McDonagh said: "We are at this for four years so one more year doesn't bother us. I am very confident that we will get the decision on the Supermac's trademark."
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APPLEGREEN MAY SELL HOTEL STAKES AS IT EYES MORE US EXPANSION - Forecourt retailer Applegreen is reviewing its newly-acquired hotel operation in the UK with all options on the table for the business.
It is also involved in initial discussions in the United States that could see it further expand its footprint there. Applegreen acquired 29 hotel premises in the UK when it bought just over a 55% stake in UK motorway service operator Welcome Break last year in a €440m deal. Applegreen has an option to lift its stake to 70% within six years. But the hotels, operated under the Ramada and Days Inn brands, are outside Applegreen's core competencies. "It's not a sector we know a whole lot about," said CEO Bob Etchingham. "We are learning, and we do anticipate coming to some conclusions on that before the year is out." Mr Etchingham told the Irish Independent that it's "a little bit early" to speculate as to the likely outcome of the review. "The first phase of this work is for the management team to get to know the sector and it isn't a business that we've been involved in at all," he said. "The second stage will be starting to look at the options. We're at the very beginning of the process. I don't want to pre-judge anything. You can imagine the full range of potential outcomes here, and I genuinely don't know where it's going to end up," he added.
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EXPORTS TO WEATHER BREXIT STORM, SAYS NOONAN - Michael Noonan, the former finance minister, said he is confident Irish exporters will be "able to cope" in the event the UK crashes out of the EU with no Brexit deal.
Mr Noonan said "uncertainty" generated by the British parliament over its plans to exit the EU by March 29 is "bad for business, bad for investment, and bad for trade". However, he said he believes Irish exporters can "ride out" a no-deal storm, adding that Ireland should not be overly concerned about Brexit, writes the Irish Examiner. "It’s disappointing, but that being said, Irish industry is very resilient - the export side is very resilient. And something that has never been discussed is the fact that when the (Brexit) referendum took place, the pound sterling was trading at around 72 pence," he said. Sterling has since slumped to 86 pence which means that Irish firms selling into Britain have already weathered a huge devaluation. Mr Noonan said: "What I’m saying is that a devaluation of sterling is almost the equivalent of a tariff of the same magnitude, and yet the Irish exporting (industry), and that’s an awful lot of people, have succeeded in holding their position, and increasing their position in the English market. So we are resilient, we are able to cope." Speaking at the opening of a new office building in Limerick, Mr Noonan said that apart from the food industry, Brexit won't be "catastrophic" for the Republic.
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LLOYDS BOSS LOSES FINAL-SALARY PENSION - Lloyds has axed controversial arrangements for its chief executive that made him the only person at the bank to have a pension linked to his final salary.
António Horta-Osório gave up the benefit, which was worth tens of thousands of pounds over his lifetime, yesterday after its existence prompted disbelief, writes The Times. Under Mr Horta-Osório, Lloyds severed the link between final salary and pension payments for the bank's thousands of employees in 2014, making him the only person still to have a pension tied to his final salary. The arrangement was highlighted in a letter staff union Affinity to the Investment Association. The association's members manage £7.7 trillion of assets.
