Did You Know . . . There’s Only One Burger King In Mattoon, Illinois, And It’s Not “The Home of the Whopper”®
By: DEAN R. KARAU
December 2007
For the past 50 years, Burger King has been a mainstay in Mattoon, Illinois. But it’s not one owned or franchised by the Burger King Corporation.
Gene and Betty Hoots owned an ice cream shop, the Frigid Queen, in Mattoon. When they opened a burger shop next door, they called it Burger King. They subsequently registered their trademark with the state of Illinois in 1959.
Burger King Corporation and its franchises began doing business in Illinois in 1961. It registered its Burger King trademark with the U.S. Trademark Office in 1963, and by 1967 had dozens of restaurants across Illinois. Gene and Betty, disturbed by the encroachment of the Florida interloper, eventually sued Burger King Corporation.
Ultimately, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that because Gene and Betty began using their trademark in Mattoon before Burger King Corporation received its federal registration and before it began doing business anywhere near Mattoon, they could continue to operate their restaurant in Mattoon and Burger King Corporation could not compete with them in a 20 mile radius around Mattoon. However, Burger King Corporation, by virtue of its federal registration, had superior rights elsewhere, and so Gene and Betty could not expand their Burger King operation outside of their 20 mile protected radius. Burger King Corporation, which now has over 11,000 stores in over 50 countries, still does not have a store in Mattoon or the surrounding area.
You can hear more about Gene and Betty on American Public Media’s Marketplace show – just click on the hamburger:
By the way, Gene’s nickname is “Hooter,” but, having engaged in battle with one national franchisor, he’s not heard from any other.
Note: The video link above requires the use of RealPlayer. You can install the free RealPlayer here.