In Australia, Burger King Is Known By A Totally Different Name
NEWS
By TIM FORSTER
If you're traveling to Australia, you may have spotted a fast food chain called Hungry Jack's with a suspiciously similar-looking logo to Burger King's.
Their identical appearance isn't a coincidence. When Burger King tried to expand to Australia in the '70s, there was already a restaurant named Burger King in Adelaide.
Burger King couldn't use the name unless they bought the trademark out, though it's unclear if they tried to do so. Instead, the company settled on an alternative name.
The Hungry Jack's name comes from the franchisee who opened the first restaurant in Australia, Jack Cowin. Despite the name difference, the restaurants are more or less the same.
The Burger King trademark expired in the '90s, meaning the U.S. chain could use its original name. Instead of renaming Hungry Jack's, they opened competing Burger Kings.
The chain blocked Cowin from opening new locations, resulting in a court case that ended in Cowin's favor. Rather than compete, Australia's Burger Kings were renamed Hungry Jack's.