In a minimum of 500 words, explain the reasons why this decision was made, and discuss the

significance of this case in U.S. trademark law jurisprudence.

Burger King has been one of the biggest names in the food chain industry that has been in

the market since 1953. This was started as one café that opened franchises all over the world, in

the coming years. This company has its trademark registered all over the world but the original

story is more interesting. Mattoon’s Burger King was functioning since 1952 but its trademark

was not registered. On the other hand, a national company started using the name Insta-Burger

King as a food change across the country, in 1953. This started a conflict of interest and Mattoon

Burger King files a suit against Insta-Burger King under trademark law. The case was brought to

Federal Court and Mattoon’s Burger King won the case against the national chain.

The decision was made under the Lanham Act of 1946. According to the section 43 (a) of

this act, the unregistered trademarks are also protected (Lemley, 1998). The purpose of this

protection is to remove confusion for the consumers in any field. This is done at the sources.

According to this statute, the Burger King of Mattoon was given the right to use the name in the

community. The national chain of Burger King is stopped to install any franchise within the

radius of 20 miles. This is done to protect the name-right for the Burger King that was developed

before the famous Burger King. Though, it did not had the trademark registered but court gave

decision to remove the confusion and to secure the right for the one who had it first. On the other

hand, since the company was not vigilant enough to register trademark, therefore, that was

granted to the national company Burger King (Collison, 1970).

Few years later, the trademark was registered in Illinois for the Hoots. This can be

identified that registering a trademark in state is not necessary but once there is a dispute of state

and national trademark, then both can be registered. To protect the state trademark, the national
trademark can be barred from having its franchise in the radius of 20 miles. This also removes

the confusion for the consumers and protects the rights who have used the name for longer

period.

Trademark law is a very tricky and complex law but with the proper knowledge, one can

resolve the issue. This Burger King case has great significance in the USA in the trademark law

(Collison, 1970). This set statutes for the unregistered trademarks and also resolved the dispute

of state vs. national trademarks. There are also provisions for the international brand names and

scope of trademark law expands there as well. Since the Businesses are shifting to online forum

and having a global market, this widens the scope for trademark law and also its national and

international implications in all the regions.

References

Collison, B. A. (1970). Trademarks-The Cornerstone of a Franchise System. Sw. LJ, 24, 247.

Lemley, M. A. (1998). The modern Lanham Act and the death of common sense. Yale LJ, 108,

1687.