It was reported this week that Subway now has more locations worldwide than McDonald’s. At the end of last year, Subway had 33,749 restaurants worldwide, compared to McDonald’s 32,737 (Wall Street Journal). Which company has the better trademarks?

McDonald’s is a surname. Subway is real word, but it is suggestive of sandwiches (‘subs’) since the real meaning of ‘subway’ has nothing to do with eating.

Subway may have more stores, but McDonald’s has a portfolio of trademarks that is far larger and deeper than that of Subway. McDonald’s has protect product names, building shapes, packaging shapes, charity names, logos, nicknames, sounds, slogans and more.

Here are some highlights of the registered trademarks of the two companies: [Click marks or logos to see USPTO records]

SUBWAY:

FOOTLONG (pending application has been Opposed by several parties)

SANDWICH ARTIST

VEGGIE DELITE

MCDONALD’S

HAPPY MEAL

SUPER SIZE

The mark consists of a full figure design of a clown with the Golden Arch Design appearing inside of a circle on its chest.

THE GOLDEN ARCHES

EGG MCMUFFIN

I’M LOVIN’ IT

BA DA BA BA BA (text)

BA DA BA BA BA – The mark is a sound mark consisting of a five tone audio progression of the notes A B C E D accompanied by the words Ba da ba ba ba

MCGRIDDLES

Which of the brands do you prefer?