Burger King (Mattoon, Illinois)

Burger King is a restaurant owned by the Hoots family in Mattoon, Illinois. The restaurant is the original Burger King, and is not related to the fast food chain Burger King; the 1968 court case between this restaurant and the larger Burger King is a well-known case in United States trademark law.

Origin

Mattoon residents Gene and Betty Hoots bought the successful Frigid Queen ice cream shop from Gene's uncle, Bill Paullin, in 1952.cite news
last = Jermaine
first = John
title = "The burger king and queen of Mattoon"
work = Illinois Times
pages =
publisher = Illinois Times, Springfield
date = 2003-11-20
url = http://www.illinoistimes.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A2686
accessdate = 2006-12-10 ] In 1954,fact|date=October 2007 Gene expanded the business, adding hamburgers, french fries and other items to the menu. In 1957,cite web
url = http://www.law.uconn.edu/homes/swilf/ip/cases/burger.htm
title = "Burger King of Florida, Inc. v. Hoots", 403 F.2d 904; 1968 U.S. App. LEXIS 4765; 159 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 706
author = United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit: by Kiley, Circuit Judge
date = 1968-11-25
accessdate = 2007-10-14] they fixed up a two-car parking garage behind the Frigid Queen, adding a grill and a counter for customers. When it came time to give the new business behind the Frigid Queen a name, Betty said that a queen needs a king, and chose the name Burger King.

In 1959, after prompting by his uncle, Gene registered the name "Burger King" as a state trademark in Illinois, and the Hootses were official owners and operators of the only "Burger King" restaurant in Illinois at the time.

Name dispute

Things went smoothly for the business until the Hootses learned of the Burger King in Florida and that company's plans for Illinois. The Hootses and their lawyer thought their state trademark gave them exclusive rights to the "Burger King" name all over the state. However, the Florida chain opened its first Illinois restaurant in Skokie in 1961, and by 1967, the chain had 50 restaurants in Illinois, and the Hootses felt they needed to take action.

The Hootses filed suit in state court, and the Florida company responded with a federal suit: "Burger King of Florida, Inc. v. Hoots" (1968). The Hootses had attorney Harlan Heller of Mattoon whilst the president of the Burger King of Florida appeared with at least six lawyers, according to Betty Hoots. The case went to the federal 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, whose decision still stands as an important interpretation of the Lanham Act.

The court ruled that, because of the federal trademark registration, and because the federal law indicated priority over state law, [The court cited numerous examples where the federal law explicitly gave federal trademarks stronger weight than other kinds. See, for example, USC|15|1127: "The intent of this chapter is ... to protect registered marks used in such commerce from interference by State, or territorial legislation."] Florida's Burger King had rights to the name almost everywhere in the United States, including in Illinois, except in the Mattoon area, where the Hoots family had prior actual use. As a result of the case, the Hootses cannot use the name "Burger King" outside of the Mattoon area, and the Florida chain cannot use the name in the Mattoon area. The district court had previously decided that the Mattoon market area was a circle with a radius of convert|20|mi|km|0|sp=us and centered on the Hootses' restaurant.

Things have run fairly smoothly for their restaurant since. At one pointwhen Burger King Corp. offered the Hootses $10,000 for the right to operate a Burger King restaurant within the 20 mile Mattoon area, but the Hootses declined.

References