Companies often change valuable brand names when expanding to other countries. Sometimes the reason is a language issue. But other times, the reasons are far more interesting.
The 40-year-old fight for the Burger King brand name in Australia came to an unexpected conclusion.When Burger King was founded in 1954, it was originally called Insta-Burger King and grew quickly through franchising.
Except you won't find Burger King in Australia because it's the only place in the world where Burger Kings are called Hungry Jack's. Over the years, Hungry Jack's tried to purchase the trademark from the local Burger King, but failed. As Hungry Jack's became the largest Burger King franchisee outside of the U.S. — even though it didn't do business under the Burger King name — the relationship between Hungry Jack's and the Burger King Corporation became strained.Then, in the mid-90s, the Burger King trademark in Australia expired.