Brawl of the Burger Kings:
Brawl of the Burger Kings: How Burger King’s federal trademark registration conquered Illinois (and then the rest of America).
In 1953, the once and future Burger King was born in Jacksonville, Florida. By 1957, Burger King’s reign expanded to Florida, Alabama, Kentucky, and Virginia.
As Burger King’s empire grew, a rival King established a small fiefdom of Mattoon, Illinois. A small ice cream shop, unaware of the Florida Burger King’s burgeoning empire, rebranded itself to “Burger King” in 1957. To protect their small fiefdom, the Burger King of Illinois secured a state trademark in 1959.
As the Burger King of Florida’s borders expanded into Illinois, tensions rose between two Burger Kings. A war of trademark infringement was first declared by the Burger King of Illinois in the battlefield of state court. The Burger King of Florida counterattacked with a claim of federal trademark infringement, and the battlegrounds shifted to federal court.
Here, the Burger King of Florida unleashed its ultimate weapon. The Burger King of Florida had secured a federal trademark in 1961. Armed with this federal trademark, the Burger King of Florida claimed a right to expand to the entirety of the United States. The Courts agreed. Federal trademarks defeat state trademarks, and give the holders rights across the entire country.
All was not lost for Burger King of Illinois. They had secured their Manttoon fiefdom before Burger King of Florida had their federal trademark. The courts ruled that Burger King of Illinois would maintain their territory as it existed before their rival filed a federal trademark.
So it was decreed. Burger King of Illinois would retain exclusive use of the term “Burger King” in a 20 mile radius of Manttoon, Illinois. (Current population, ~16,000 people). Burger King of Florida would take the rest of the United States (Current population, ~340,000,000 people).
The lesson for businesses today? Never bring a state-level trademark registration to a federal trademark registration fight.
