International Trademarks

Jack not so Hungry for Burger King, Allison Jackson, The Sydney Morning Herald

I have just recently studied in Australia, and one of the restaurants I frequently visited was Hungry Jack’s. Hungry Jack’s was identical to Burger King, same colors, the whopper, the whole nine yards. Except for one thing, the name, but what was weird is Australia also had Burger King’s. This has puzzled me since I have been back, but after a little bit of reading and research, I have found the answer to my puzzle. The problem begins with the difficulty of international trademarks.

In 1971, a business entrepreneur named Jack Cowen negotiated the right to be the Australian franchisee of Burger Kings. But with the Burger King name already copyrighted, he went with “Hungry Jack’s”. Since then Mr. Cowen has seen Hungry Jacks grow to 202 franchised outlets. With Hungry Jack’s, being such a success, and Australia being a fast growing market Burger King wanted their share. “Burger King w...