The Original Burger King Has Nothing To Do With The Whopper

In a far, far away land called Mattoon, Illinois the kingdom of burgers began. This Burger King ascended its throne in 1952. But alas, it is not the same king we all know today. And even more shocking is this: the original Burger King has never had a Whopper on its menu.

Gene Hoots purchased the Frigid Queen ice cream shop in Mattoon, Illinois from his uncle and soon after added burgers and fries to the shop's menu. With these new offerings came the need for a new name, so in 1954 Hoots crowned his business the Burger King. Just five years later Hoots registered the Burger King Trademark in Illinois. Little did Hoots know how significant this simple business move would be.

Meanwhile, in Miami, another Burger King ascended its own throne in 1954 as well. The Florida-based Burger King grew its footprint and its menu to eventually become home to the ironically massive Whopper. As this fast food chain expanded its kingdom, it eventually tried to stake claim in Illinois, and that is where the plot thickens like a Travis Kelce preferred Double Whopper.

By 1959, the Miami-based Burger King was attempting to set up in Illinois. The Mattoon Burger King filed a lawsuit against the Whopper chain claiming that it had the right to be the only Burger King in the state of Illinois. In response, Burger King of Miami filed a federal lawsuit to assert its national trademark rights to the name.

This legal battle went on, but eventually a federal court made an exception. The court ruled that the nationally expanding Burger King would not be allowed to open any restaurant within a 20-mile radius of the original Mattoon, Illinois Burger King restaurant. Unsatisfied with that ruling, the national chain offered the Hoots family $10,000 to let the company operate within the allotted space. The Hoots declined the offer, and to this day, no other Burger King restaurant operates within 20-miles of the one in Mattoon.

This is not the only instance when the American fast food chain engaged in a trademark battle. In 2011, it filed a lawsuit against a restaurant in India operating under the same name. The global company lost this battle in August, with an Indian court noted that the Indian Burger King had been in operation since 1992, long before the Miami-based chain entered the market in the country.