THE GAA HAS said no one is permitted to use its Croke Park trademark “in jest or otherwise” after it allegedly reported Supermac’s April Fool’s Day joke on their Instagram and Facebook account.

Supermac’s, on 31 March, posted an image of Croke Park and joked that its brand was to be the new stadium sponsor – poking fun at the Supervalu Páirc Uí Chaoimh debate from earlier in the year.

The restaurant’s accounts on Meta-owned platforms have since been suspended after the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) reported the posts for using its Croke Park trade mark, the Irish Independent reported today.

While the restaurant is currently in communication with Meta in order to resolve the matter, the GAA has defended its decision and said the use of its trademarks by others is not permitted under the relevant legislation.

“‘Croke Park’ is a registered trade mark. The use of any registered trade mark is not permitted, in jest or otherwise where it is clearly being used for advertising purposes and in this case on a business account,” a spokesperson told The Journal.

“Such use constitutes trade mark infringement pursuant to Section 14 of the Trade Mark Act 1996.”

“Also, to be clear, the post was first published on 31 March 2024 and not on 1 April 2024,” they added.

Supermac’s was been told it has 180 days to appeal the decision. The restaurants has said it does not accept that there was any breach of third party trademark rights. 

The Journal has contacted Supermac’s for comment.

In March, owner of the restaurant chain Pat McDonagh said there needed to be more clarity over what GAA sponsors can and cannot do after his company was served with two solicitors letters by the GAA over use of official crests on advertising clips.

Supermac’s were forced to blur and remove the GAA logo from a number of their official advertisements after the the Association claimed the firm has no commercial rights to the symbol, according to the Examiner newspaper.

Written by Muiris O’Cearbhaill and posted on TheJournal.ie