Some fast food for thought: there are virtually no “Wendy’s” fast food retail restaurants in Europe. Why? Well, it's the result of many years’ experience of Wendy’s with international franchising, as well as losing out to a local independent Dutch fast food entrepreneur back in the 1990s.
Wendy’s abandoned its trademark in Holland after the independent registered the trademark “Wendy’s” in Holland and the Benelux region. The mainstream Wendy’s tried to oust the Dutch Wendy’s and tried to re-register “Wendy’s” but lost in the Eastern European regional courts to the independent Dutch Wendy’s. Wendy’s also had been in Russia, Great Britain, Italy, Greece, and Germany, but closed these franchises because of alleged poor performance by the various franchisees.
The “lessons learned” in this series of set-backs to Wendy’s for any trademark/service mark holder is to establish your rights upon first use and continue such registration through active use and defense against any would-be infringers, no matter how small the infringers might be.
Pellegrin’s BriefCase SM/©
Volume 3, Issue #1, January 2019
#Wendys #trademark #intellectualproperty #IP #international #franchising #FastFood #Restaurants #Europe
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Author’s Background: ADVERTISING MATERIAL. John Pellegrin, Esq. maintains a robust business law and management consulting practice. Areas of expertise include IP/IT, transactional and business succession planning, communications, various government agencies (FCC, FTC, USPTO, Copyright Office, FDA, and EPA), nonprofits, and wills/trusts/estates. He is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, New York, District of Columbia, and Virginia.
Caveats: Nothing contained in Pellegrin’s BriefCase should be taken as the last word on any given subject discussed nor relied upon as legal advice. Rather, the author’s comments on emerging trends and prescient decisions in the law and government regulations/interpretations/policies are meant to make the reader more aware of developing issues, opportunities and risks.
Legal and Business Consulting Services. We view our role as counsel being essentially to “define the scope of the risk” for our clients. John also serves as Of Counsel to the law firm of Allred, Bacon, Halfhill & Young, PLC, as well as being actively involved in several community-based organizations. These include serving as Chairman/At Large Commissioner on the Fairfax County Small Business Commission; Rotary Club of West Springfield; COR (Chartering Organization Representative) to a local Boy Scout Troop & Cub Pack; National Eagle Scout Association; IFSR; MVLE, Inc.; various Chambers of Commerce; MEPC (McLean Estate Planning Council), and the Purveyors Club. He has been recognized and honored with several awards over his lengthy legal career and for his community involvement, including a communications Golden Receiver Award, Community Champion Award, and Distinguished Service Award (Rotary International).
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