McDonald's ice cream machine company is served restraining order: report

A judge has awarded a temporary restraining order against Taylor Company, the company that makes McDonald's Corp. ice cream machines, according to reports. 

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First reported by Vice's Motherboard, the order was granted after Kytch, Inc. – a startup that made a diagnostic tool to help solve issues with the machines – filed a lawsuit against Taylor in May. 

Customers have complained, including on social media, that the machines, known for making the McDonald's popular McFlurry dessert, were frequently broken.

The lawsuit alleged that Taylor had "designed flawed code that caused the machines to malfunction" to profit from machine repairs.

Additionally, it claims that Taylor had repeatedly, and under multiple aliases and e-mail addresses, tried to purchase a Kytch Solution Device in order to learn trade secrets. 

The court document said a Taylor spokesperson eventually admitted that it was successful in obtaining one.

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Taylor, according to the complaint, had also begun to develop its own version of the Kytch system, with help from McDonald's franchisee and defendant Tyler Gamble, who Kytch accuses of working with Taylor.

Simultaneously, Taylor told McDonald's – and McDonald's told franchisees –  that Kytch machines were dangerous and that they could, according to an April report in WIRED, even cause "serious human injury."

"These guys did a really effective job at frightening off all of our customers and investors so we’re hoping the public will support our case in the name of justice, right to repair and humanity," Kytch co-founder Jeremy O’Sullivan told Vice on Monday. "We still have some diehard customers sticking with us. Though few in comparison to what we once had before McDonald’s and Taylor called our product dangerous."

The outlet reported that Taylor had just 24 hours to turn over its Kytch Solution Devices and "not use, copy, disclose, or otherwise make available in any way information, including formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, or process obtained by any of them."

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FOX Business has reached out to both McDonald's and Taylor but did not immediately receive a response.