McDonald's Corp. v. Druck and Gerner, D.D.S., P.C., d/b/a McDental
United States District Court for the Northern District of New York
814 F. Supp. 1127 (1993)
McDonald's Corp. (plaintiff) operated over 8,000 restaurant locations and owned a well-known family of trademarks beginning with the prefix "Mc." Two dentists, Dr. Druck and Dr. Gerner, operated dental offices under the name "McDental" (defendant) in New York and Vermont. McDonald's sued for trademark infringement, presenting survey evidence of widespread public familiarity with its "Mc" family of marks and evidence that consumers were likely to be confused into associating McDental with McDonald's. The dentists denied any intent to evoke McDonald's marks and claimed no one had ever perceived such an association.
Whether trademark infringement occurs when the defendant's use of an allegedly infringing mark is likely to cause the average consumer to be misled or confused as to the origin of the mark.