The Adelaide Burger King chain was entirely separate from the US company of the same name. Trademark prevented the American chain form opening in Australia leading to the Hungry Jack’s name to be adopted American born Don Dervan started his own chain under the same name because Burger King had never bothered to trademark the brand in Australia.
While researching we ran into the query “Is Hungry Jacks owned by Burger King Australia?”.
One source proposed hungry Jack’s Pty Ltd. is an Australian fast food franchise of the Burger King Corporation. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Competitive Foods Australia, a privately held company owned by Jack Cowin. Hungry Jack’s owns and operates or sub-licences all of the Burger King/Hungry Jack’s restaurants in Australia.
The only Burger King trademarks that are currently sold at Hungry Jack’s are the Whopper range of beef burgers and the Tender. Crisp range of chicken burgers.
As a result of Burger King’s actions, Hungry Jack’s owner Jack Cowin and his company Competitive Foods Australia, began legal proceedings in 2001 against the Burger King Corporation, claiming Burger King Corporation had violated the conditions of the master franchising agreement and was in breach of the contract.
Hungry Jack’s argues that the burger’s name is simply a play on the company’s name and that of its founder Jack Cowin, and that a burger’s appearance and composition cannot be protected by a trademark, noting that their product features “common characteristics of hamburgers” sold everywhere.
Why is it called Hungry Jack’s in Australia?
The reason Burger king is called Hungry Jack’s in Australia is due to licencing of trademarks. When they decided to branch out internationally they discovered that a small burger restaurant in Adelaide, Australia, already had trademarked that name. Burger King allowed the Australian franchisee to pick.
In fact, Hungry Jack’s in Australia is the world’s second largest franchise operation of Burger King. So the question still remains. Why is Burger King called Hungry Jacks in Australia? Why is Burger King called Hungry Jacks in Australia? The reason Burger king is called Hungry Jack’s in Australia is due to licencing of trademarks.
Why are there no Burger King restaurants in Australia?
Cowin added “’s” and Hungry Jacks’s was born. The first Burger King/Hungry Jack’s in Australia opened in Perth in 1971, and has since expanded to more than 300 locations across Australia. Thus was solved the mystery of Hungry Jack’s and the lack of Burger King restaurants in Australia.
One way to think about this is i believe the name Burger King was already registered in Australia, to an independent burger joint. Jack Cowan owned the master franchise agreement in Australia, so he called it Hungry Jacks. 8 clever moves when you have $1,000 in the bank.