McDonald’s Israel sued for $1 million over alleged patent infringement
Entrepreneur Marco Luzzatto and his company claim the chain’s app and websites use technology covered by a registered patent for remote nutritional monitoring. McDonald’s Israel says it has not yet received the statement of claim.
Entrepreneur and inventor Marco Luzzatto and his company, NewVal-Tech Knowledge, Services and Investments, have filed a lawsuit against Alonyal, the Israeli franchisee of McDonald’s, seeking NIS 3 million ($1M) in damages. The plaintiffs allege patent and copyright infringement.
Filed with the Central District Court, the lawsuit concerns technology that the plaintiffs claim is being used in McDonald’s Israel’s digital platforms.
According to the lawsuit, Alonyal is an Israeli company founded in 1992 that has served as McDonald’s exclusive franchisee in Israel since then and continues to do so, to the best of the plaintiffs’ knowledge. The suit centers on a registered patent for a remote guidance system, including a cross-platform training system designed to record, monitor and analyze individuals’ nutritional behavior and improve general nutritional awareness.
The patent describes a system that allows users to view an accessible summary of their consumption, independently of the act of eating itself. It also enables users to receive real-time information about their cumulative consumption, presented as a “consumption status.” Food items can be displayed according to various parameters, including the quantities consumed, manufacturer labels and other relevant information.
Filed through attorney Sabina Mayer, the lawsuit alleges that McDonald’s Israel’s app and websites infringe Luzzatto’s patent. The plaintiffs claim that Alonyal has used nutritional monitoring technologies, nutritional calculators and location-based tools derived from their designs, as well as an online service called Nutricells that they developed and marketed years ago.
The lawsuit also states that the parties were in contact before the claim was filed, but that their discussions failed to produce a resolution. Alonyal has not yet filed a statement of defense.
McDonald’s Israel said: “We have not yet received the statement of claim. Once we receive it, we will respond within the framework of the legal proceedings.”
