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Dunkin’ Donuts not ‘the best’, agency says

Posted at 7:52 AM, Nov 28, 2012
and last updated 2012-11-28 07:52:50-05

BOSTON, MA (WTVR) - Dunkin' Donuts claims to have the "best coffee in America," but the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office disagrees.

Dunkin' Donuts' petition to trademark the phrase "best coffee in America" has been rejected by the agency.

The Massachusetts-based coffee chain's slogan was not "distinctive enough to qualify for protection" and is "merely laudatory and descriptive," the agency ruled recently, according to the Boston Globe.

Translation: Everyone claims to have the best coffee in America, Dunkin' Donuts, so get in line. 

The chain, despite not being the undisputed best, is an international phenomenon, with 2,600 stores around the globe selling 1.5 billion cups of coffee a year.