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Two American burger chains find themselves in conflict as they work to retain their company name. ‘Whataburger’ and ‘What-A-Burger #13″ have gone to court after Whatabrands LLC sued ‘What-A-Burger #13′ over their mark. Whataburger strongly believes that they should keep the mark as they, in respect to What-A-Burger #13, are a much bigger brand with over 1,000 branches in 16 states and registered their mark first in 1957.
This contrasts with What-A-Burger #13 as they are considered a much smaller brand with only two branches in North Carolina as well as a singular food truck. Whataburger say that What-A-Burger #13’s mark was registered more than 10 years later than their mark was, meaning that it would only be correct for What-A-Burger #13 to change since they registered second.
In April 2024, Whataburger announced they would be opening a branch in North Carolina, following publicity surrounding a new branch opening. Whataburger then reached out to What-A-Burger #13, expressing their concerns around the public confusing the two companies and together they agreed to enter a coexistence agreement. This meant that What-A-Burger #13 could keep their mark, within some rules, however Whataburger believe that What-A-Burger #13 opened a new LLC called ‘WAB #13 LLC’. This would allow What-A-Burger #13 to be able to get around the new rules imposed on them by Whataburger as they would be using a different mark. This caused Whataburger to sue in the first place.
Although there has not been an official response from the What-A-Burger #13 representatives, they have said this, “What-A-Burger is a small family business that originally opened in in the 1950s in Kannapolis North Carolina. Now in its third generation of ownership by the Bost family, Zeb Bost, who is the grandchild of one of the founders operates two What-A-Burger restaurants in Stanly and Cabarrus Counties. Starting in 1970, the Bost family entered into an agreement with the then-owner of Whataburger out of Texas that it would operate without interference in Stanly and Cabarrus Counties. The Texas company broke that agreement in 2022. Now, after being in business for seventy years, What-A-Burger’s future is being threatened by this large national retailer, and the Bost family is being victimized by big money interests.”
The question remains will playing the sympathy card work in favour of What-A-Burger #13, or will the “big money interests” come out on top?
By Adam Little of Farnborough Sixth Form College
