Title: The Impact of Federal Registration on Trademarks in the Digital Age

when you file it federally, you get a lot more coverage. And I always say technology is moving faster than a law. So back in the day, you used to have to prove interstate commerce in order to get federal registration. So a lot of people use the state law system to file their trademarks when before the internet, right? Because now that we have the internet, as long as your business is a www.com or you’re on social media and you’re offering your services or your products to anyone across the world, basically, now you have interstate commerce. So with the internet, it kind of took that away. So you want to go for the broader coverage. There was a case, and it was in the 1950s, where there was this restaurant, a small mom and pop restaurant, and they sold burger shakes and fries, right? And so then there was a Florida restaurant that adopted the same name, and they sold burger shakes and fries as well. And so the Florida restaurant began to grow very fast and very rapidly. And there was supposed to be an agreement that they will never come into the state of Illinois. Well, we know Money Talk and Bullcrap Walk, and they came in the state of Illinois. Well, the state of Illinois restaurant filed a declaratory judgment under federal law to kick them out of the state of Illinois. And the court asked them, in the state of Illinois, they were the first users, right? The court asked them, well, how far does your customers come to your restaurant? And this is a restaurant, it’s like in Mattoon, Illinois, which is like maybe like 200 miles south of Chicago, but it’s right off a major highway. And they said, well, they come from about a 20 mile radius. And so the court said, okay, well, this company cannot come within a 20 mile radius of your restaurant, but now you can’t go outside a 20 mile radius of your restaurant because they have the federal registration. And unfortunately, federal trumps state. So do you know like- So they box them in. They box them in. But what’s the name of that company? Can you guys imagine Burger King? So if you Google right now, the original Burger King, it’s still gonna come up today. And it’s 2024.