Editing Subway (restaurant) (section)

===Footlong trademark disputes===
On January 31, 2011, Subway lawyer Valerie Pochron wrote to [[Casey's General Stores]], a chain of Iowa-based convenience stores, demanding that the small chain cease using the term "footlong" in advertisements for its 12-inch sandwiches. Subway threatened to sue. Consequently, in February 2011, Casey's General Stores Inc. filed a petition in a U.S. District Court in [[Des Moines, Iowa|Des Moines]], seeking a legal declaration that the word "footlong" does not violate Subway's rights.<ref name="caseys">{{cite news |url=https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2011-02-14-subway-caseys-footlong-suit_N.htm |title=Casey's sues Subway over rights to 'footlong' |work=USA Today |date=July 16, 2010 |access-date=February 17, 2011 |archive-date=January 20, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120050457/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2011-02-14-subway-caseys-footlong-suit_N.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Casey's further sought a declaration that the word "footlong" is a generic description of a sandwich measuring one foot.<ref>{{cite web |last=Welte |first=Melanie S. |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna41584626 |title=Iowa store chain sues Subway over 'footlong' |publisher=NBC News |date=February 14, 2011 |access-date=February 17, 2011 |archive-date=September 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923231945/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/41584626 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/gov.uscourts.iasd.43593 |title=Complaint, Casey's v. Subway, No. 4:11-cv-64 (S. D. Iowa) |date=February 11, 2011}}</ref> Before serving its complaint on Subway, Casey's voluntarily dismissed its action, ending the litigation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/gov.uscourts.iasd.43593 |title=Motion for voluntary dismissal, Casey's v. Subway, No. 4:11-cv-64 (S. D. Iowa) |date=May 3, 2011}}</ref>

Subway's trademark application for "footlong" has yet to be approved by the federal government. Subway has attempted to register it with the [[United States Patent and Trademark Office]] twice. It filed on November 8, 2007,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=77324328&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch |title=U. S. Patent and Trademark Office, ''footlong'' application #1, s/n 77324328 |access-date=February 10, 2013 |archive-date=May 11, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511081924/http://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=77324328&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch |url-status=live }}</ref> and June 4, 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=77752328&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch |title=U. S. Patent and Trademark Office, ''footlong'' application #2, s/n 77752328 |access-date=February 10, 2013 |archive-date=May 11, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511081924/http://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=77752328&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch |url-status=live }}</ref> Both filings have been abandoned, on November 20, 2013, and August 21, 2014, respectively. [[Yum Brands]] (KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and non-Canadian A&W locations), Long John Silver's, and other competitors opposed the applications.<ref name="caseys"/>