Dunkin' Donuts has the "Best Coffee in America"? Not so fast...

The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office recently refused registration of the application filed by Dunkin' Donuts for "BEST COFFEE IN AMERICA".  Now, I love Dunkin' Donuts as much as the next good New Englander, but this comes as no surprise. Common laudatory phrases and other slogans that are descriptive of the alleged merit of a product are generally not registrable. Slogans such as "Best Car in America", "The Greatest Bar", "America's Best Popcorn" and "Best Restaurant in Town" have been deemed to be "trade puffery". The Trademark Board has taken a strong stand against the registration of self-laudatory marks and had held that that such slogans should be available to all competitors. Simply put, under U.S. trademark law, Starbucks is allowed to tout that it too has the "Best Coffee in America".