Mission Burrito forced to change its name after losing Trademark lawsuit
The famous church tower and bell of Mission Burrito has maintained a special place in the hearts of the people of Houston just like the golden arches of McDonald’s. Now, all this is going to be changed as the Burrito chain is forced to change its name.
Mexican Restaurants, which is the parent company of four Mission Burrito locations in the Houston area, lost a trademark-dilution case in November against Gruma Corp., which is the maker of Mission-brand tortillas, chips and other food products mostly sold in grocery stores.
As per the ruling by the court, the disclaimers must be placed on all labels, signs, prints, packages, wrappers, advertisements, websites and menus stating very clearly that it is not in any way affiliated with Gruma Corp. The Mexican Restaurants, however, resolved that the ruling was too much and said that it is going ahead with a rebranding.
Mexican Restaurants spokesman Larry L. Harrison said that they wanted to rebrand soon after they had brought Mission Burrito in 1996 and that they would have done it earlier had it not been for the lawsuit underway.
As part of the companies’ effort to rebrand it just closed entries for an online competition to draw up suggestions for a new name. The company said that altogether 500 entries were submitted and whoever was nearest to the name they finally choose will get a free burrito every week for a year. The name that they chose will not be revealed until it has been thoroughly cross-checked by attorneys to make certain that they don’t end up in another lawsuit. Whatever may the results be, Texans Burrito, Chewy Burrito, Burrito Bell, and Diznee Burrito will all probably be out soon.
Trademark Registration in Japan
Patent Attorney：Hiroshi Oogai
Address：304 BUREX Hirakawacho 1-5-15 Hirakawa-cho,
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Phone：＋81-3-4570-0792
Mail：contact @ trademark-registration-japan.com
