Burger chain forces name change

Whopper flapjacks ran into trouble with global brand Burger King

A vegetarian snack company has been forced to change the name of a product because it is the same as a burger sold by global chain Burger King.

Mark Gould, managing director of Wholebake in Corwen, Denbighshire, said Burger King was "squashing the little guy" by threatening legal action.

Wholebake was told its use of the name "Whopper!" for a flapjack had infringed the burger giant's trademark.

A spokesman for Burger King did not want to comment on the issue.

According to Mr Gould, the company had "innocently" christened the flapjack Whopper! because of its size, and would not want to be associated with meat products.

"Wholebake is a totally vegetarian company and has never had any desire to associate itself with burgers or any other meat products for which Burger King is known," he said.

Once again it's a case of a big company using its financial muscle to squash the little guy Mark Gould

"We would have liked to have fought these actions all the way but overriding the points in our favour was the potential of massive costs involved.

"We are a small company based in north Wales - these costs would have been nothing to Burger King but they probably would have cost us our business.

"Once again it's a case of a big company using its financial muscle to squash the little guy."

The company has now renamed the product Flapjacks, as it could not afford the legal costs of fighting a court case.

The minimum costs of defending the use of the name would have been around £20,000 but could have escalated to hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The company said Burger King claimed the public would believe Wholebake's bars, which are sold in supermarkets and health food shops, were associated with their burgers of the same name.