Dunkin' Donuts' Coffee Claim 'Best In America' Denied By Feds, Starbucks Mum

Dunkin' Donuts made a claim that its coffee is the "Best in America," but the feds disagree.

According to the Boston Globe, the Canton, Mass.-based coffee chain filed to trademark the slogan "Best Coffee in America," but the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected the claim recently.

The patent office said the slogan was not distinctive enough for it to be trademarked and is "merely laudatory and descriptive."

The Boston Globe noted that despite Dunkin' Donuts attempt to coin the phrase, other coffee shops are more favorable in the public, like Starbucks which was been named the top fast-food coffee house by Zagat for three years in a row.

Starbucks did not comment about the situation, The Globe reported.

Dunkin' Donuts, which sells more than 1.5 billion cups of coffee annually at its 2,600 stores, did not say whether or not it will appeal the ruling by the Patent and Trademark Office.

“We are reviewing the filing and cannot speculate on future plans at this time,” spokeswoman Jessica Gioglio told The Boston Globe.

This is not the first time the company had a battle with the trademark office. The feds also denied a trademark for Dunkin' Donuts' phrase for its bite-sized bagel pieces, "Bagel Bunchkin," for sounding too much like "The Bagel Bunch," a common supermarket brand.

Similarly, Boston Beer Co., the makers of Sam Adams, attempted to trademark the slogan "The Best Beer in America" in 1999 but failed when it was turned down. The brewer continues to use the phrase without a trademark.