Makers of ice cream machine repairers are suing McDonald’s in a $900 million lawsuit

Makers of a device that repairs McDonald’s ice cream machines filed a $900 million lawsuit against the international fast food chain on Tuesday.

A small company known as Kytch is suing McDonald’s in Delaware federal court for allegedly disparaging the company through false advertising, According to a 133-page court filing.

“Kytch brings this action to rectify matters, defend the company’s civil law rights, reduce McDonald’s anti-competitive behavior, recover damages and punitive damages, protect the consuming public from false and misleading advertising, and repair broken McDonald’s machines,” the company says in the court filing.

Hill reached out to McDonald’s for comment.

Kytch was founded by Jeremy O’Sullivan and Melissa Nelson to solve problems with McDonald’s ice cream machines, which break down over and over and become such a pervasive problem that the fast food chain’s Twitter profile joked.

Kytch claims that the ice cream machine makers, a company called Taylor, have exclusive rights to repair McDonald’s light-duty machines, leading to a “profitable scheme” between the two companies. Kytch also claims Taylor allows her hardware to crash or stay hard to turn a profit.

last year, The Wall Street Journal reported that The Federal Trade Commission has been investigating similar issues with McDonald’s ice cream machines.

In 2019, the startup developed Kytch Solution, which is essentially a computer that connects to flexible service machines and allows remote control and monitoring that “reduces the need for costly repair appointments,” Kytch said in the court filing.

Kytch won endorsement from the National Restaurant Association, but McDonald’s and Taylor, hoping to develop a similar Kytch Solution device, ran false ads claiming Kytch Solution was unsafe, the company alleges in a court filing.

Kytch’s smear campaign has “destroyed” the small business, according to the company.

“Damage done to Kytch was instant and Huge,” the company said in the filing.McDonald’s The illicit behavior was appalling Financial consequences for Kytch, its founders, investors, and employees.”