Burger King is a restaurant founded by the Hoots family and operated by Burger King LLC of Illinois in Mattoon, Illinois, United States; it is not related to the fast food chain Burger King. The restaurant's founders claim that it is the "original" Burger King and predates the fast food chain. In 1968 court case between this restaurant and the larger Burger King chain is a notable case in United States trademark law regarding the Lanham Act.
Mattoon residents Gene and Betty Hoots bought the successful Frigid Queen ice cream shop from Gene's uncle, Bill Paullin, in 1952. [1] In 1954, Gene expanded the business, adding hamburgers, French fries and other items to the menu. In 1957, [2] they fixed up a two-car parking garage behind the Frigid Queen, adding a grill and a counter for customers. [1] When it came time to give the new business behind the Frigid Queen a name, Gene wanted to go with The Hot Dames but Betty said that a queen needs a king, and chose the name Burger King instead. [1]
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. [1]
The Hootses retired in February 2015 and sold the company to a local businessman, Cory Sanders. Sanders announced that he would continue to operate the restaurant but would be making several changes including a planned remodel of the interior, menu expansion and price reductions. He also said that he intends to host car shows, fundraisers for local charities, and increase web and social media presence of the restaurant. [3] Sanders subsequently sold the company in March 2017 to its long-time manager, Ernie Drummond. [4] Burger King sources its meat from well-known local business Morgan’s Meat Market.
The Hoots family learned of the Burger King in Florida and that company's plans for Illinois. The Hootses and their lawyer thought that their state trademark, which was in use before the Florida chain moved into the state, gave them exclusive rights to the "Burger King" name all over the state. However, the Florida chain opened its first Illinois restaurant in Skokie (a Chicago suburb) in 1961; by 1967, the chain had 50 restaurants in Illinois, and the Hootses felt that they needed to take action. [1]
The Hootses filed suit in state court, and the Florida company responded with a federal suit: Burger King of Florida, Inc. v. Hoots (1968). [2] The Hootses had attorney Harlan Heller of Mattoon, whereas the president of the Burger King of Florida appeared with at least six lawyers, according to Betty Hoots. [1] 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, [5] 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 (which operates both nationally in the U.S. and internationally) 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 20 miles (32 km) and centered on the Hootses' restaurant. Thus, the closest Burger King for the Florida chain is located approximately 25 miles (40 km) north of Mattoon in Tuscola, Illinois. As of 2024, the Florida chain has 319 locations in Illinois outside the 20-mile Mattoon area.
Betty Hoots said that 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. [1]
A hamburger, or simply a burger, is a dish consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. The patties are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon or chilis with condiments such as ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, relish or a "special sauce", often a variation of Thousand Island dressing and are frequently placed on sesame seed buns. A hamburger patty topped with cheese is called a cheeseburger.
A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast-food cuisine and has minimal table service. The food served in fast-food restaurants is typically part of a "meat-sweet diet", offered from a limited menu, cooked in bulk in advance and kept hot, finished and packaged to order, and usually available for take away, though seating may be provided. Fast-food restaurants are typically part of a restaurant chain or franchise operation that provides standardized ingredients and/or partially prepared foods and supplies to each restaurant through controlled supply channels. The term "fast food" was recognized in a dictionary by Merriam–Webster in 1951.
Mattoon is a city in Coles County, Illinois, United States. The population was 16,870 as of the 2020 census. The city is home to Lake Land College and has close ties with its neighbor, Charleston. Both are principal cities of the Charleston–Mattoon Micropolitan Statistical Area.
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The Big King sandwich is one of the major hamburger products sold by the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King, and was part of its menu for more than twenty years. As of March 2019, it is sold in the United States under its 1997 Big King XL formulation. During its testing phase in 1996–1997, it was originally called the Double Supreme and was configured similarly to the McDonald's Big Mac—including a three-piece roll. It was later reformulated as a more standard double burger during the latter part of product testing in 1997. It was given its current name when the product was formally introduced in September 1997, but maintained the more conventional double cheeseburger format.
Burger King v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462 (1985), is a notable case in United States civil procedure that came before the Supreme Court of the United States addressing personal jurisdiction.
Cheeburger Cheeburger is a 1950s-style fast casual restaurant chain specializing in cheeseburgers, french fries, onion rings, and milkshakes. The chain is headquartered in Fort Myers, Florida. As of 2023, Cheeburger Cheeburger has three locations across the United States and one location in Saudi Arabia.
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Druther's is a restaurant, formerly a chain of fast food restaurants that began as Burger Queen restaurants started in Winter Haven, Florida in 1956, and then based in Louisville, Kentucky from 1963 until 1981. The name was a play on the word "druthers", and the mascot was a giant female bee named Queenie Bee. In 1981, Burger Queen changed to Druther's restaurants, although the changes were mostly cosmetic. One reason given for the name change was to eliminate the perception that they specialized in only hamburgers when they also had fried chicken and a serve-yourself salad bar. Druther's featured a character named "Andy Dandytale" on its kids meal items. The chain's slogan was "I'd Ruther Go to Druther's Restaurant." As of April 2024, the company operates 1 location in Kentucky.
Tom Wahl's is a chain of fast-food restaurants based in the Rochester, New York area that currently has several restaurants around the Finger Lakes region. USA Today named it one of "51 great burger joints across the USA" in 2010.
The majority of the locations of international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King are privately owned franchises. While the majority of franchisees are smaller operations, several have grown into major corporations in their own right. At the end of the company's fiscal year in 2015, Burger King reported it had more than 15,000 outlets in 84 countries; of these, approximately 50% are in the United States and 99.9% are privately owned and operated. The company locations employ more than 37,000 people who serve approximately 11.4 million customers daily.
The legal issues of Burger King include several legal disputes and lawsuits involving the international fast food restaurant chain Burger King (BK) as both plaintiff and defendant in the years since its founding in 1954. These have involved almost every aspect of the company's operations. Depending on the ownership and executive staff at the time of these incidents, the company's responses to these challenges have ranged from a conciliatory dialog with its critics and litigants to a more aggressive opposition with questionable tactics and negative consequences. The company's response to these various issues has drawn praise, scorn, and accusations of political appeasement from different parties over the years.
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Burger King is a major international fast food restaurant chain and corporation.
Burger King was a fast food restaurant chain in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Also known as Burger King Drive-Inn, it was founded by former Imperial Oil executives William R. Jarvis and James Duncan Rae in 1956. Among the first American-style fast food restaurants in Edmonton, it was not related to the worldwide Burger King chain. Company headquarters were in offices above one of the restaurants, at 9501 111 Avenue. Its signature items included a mushroom burger and a "Canadian Burger".
