Franchise Trademark Index: What 259 FDDs Say About Their Marks, Checked Against USPTO Records

Franchise trademark index: how to use it

This index records what Item 13 of each franchise disclosure document (FDD) says about the brand’s principal trademark, and what the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) record shows for the same registration numbers. It covers 259 FDDs filed with Minnesota CARDS and issued between 2025-01-24 and 2026-08-18 (181 in 2026, 78 in 2025).

A principal trademark is, in the words of 16 CFR 436.5(m), the primary trademarks, service marks, names, logos and commercial symbols the franchisee will use to identify the business. The table states filing facts and USPTO facts only. It does not rate any brand.

Sort by status, register or USPTO result. Each row links to the FDD on Minnesota CARDS; each registration number can be looked up in USPTO TSDR.

Registration status mix of the principal franchise trademark

Almost every franchisor in the sample says its brand-name mark is federally registered. In 247 of 259 FDDs (95.4%), Item 13 lists a Principal Register registration for a mark consisting of or containing the brand name. 12 FDDs (4.6%) list only a pending application for the principal mark. No FDD in the sample sells under a principal mark with neither a registration nor an application.

Within the registered group, 36 FDDs (13.9%) also name another mark that they call a principal or primary trademark and that is not yet registered. These are usually a new logo, a renamed concept, a co-brand or a longer form of the name. 73 FDDs (28.2%) list at least one pending application of any kind, 174 applications in all.

The median FDD lists 4 US registrations. 12 FDDs list at least one registration on the Supplemental Register, which under 15 U.S.C. 1094 does not carry the evidentiary presumption, constructive-use priority or incontestability of the Principal Register. 11 FDDs with registrations do not say which register they are on, although 16 CFR 436.5(m) asks for it.

The unregistered-mark statement in FDD Item 13

When a principal trademark is not on the Principal Register, 16 CFR 436.5(m)(4) requires a fixed statement: the franchisor has no federal registration, the mark has fewer legal benefits than a registered one, and a franchisee may have to change to an alternative trademark at extra cost if the right to use it is challenged.

Of the 12 FDDs whose principal mark is only applied for, 11 print all three elements and 1 prints part of the statement (the benefit and challenge sentences without the opening sentence). Of the 36 registered FDDs that name another unregistered principal mark, 35 print the statement and 1 does not. A further 33 FDDs with a registered principal mark print it for secondary marks such as slogans or new logos.

In total 80 FDDs (30.9%) carry the statement in some form. Its presence does not by itself mean the brand name is unregistered; read which mark it refers to.

FDD vs USPTO: do the trademark records match?

For 257 of 259 FDDs (a random subset), every principal registration number in Item 13 was looked up in USPTO TSDR on 2026-10-14 (572 registrations). 572 were found under the number given, and 560 (97.9%) are live today.

232 of 245 checked FDDs (94.7%) match the USPTO record on every principal registration: right number, right mark, same registration date, and alive on the FDD issue date. 13 show at least one confirmed difference, listed below. Each was re-read in the FDD and in TSDR before it was counted; differences caused by table layout or by images in place of mark text were not counted.

Across all marks listed (not only the principal mark), every registration number in 248 FDDs was looked up. Of the 1618 that TSDR confirms as the listed mark (date or owner as printed), 26 (1.6%) were already cancelled or expired when the FDD was issued, in 21 FDDs. Most are old slogans or retired logos.

Of 57 principal-mark applications that FDDs listed as pending, 34 have since registered, 18 are still pending and 5 are dead in the USPTO record. The USPTO reported first-action pendency of 4.45 months and total processing time of 10.03 months in the first half of fiscal 2026 (USPTO, 2026-05-05).

Mark age vs franchisor age

For the checked FDDs, the oldest live principal registration was a median 14.2 years old at the FDD issue date (range 0.0 to 74.4). Joining the first franchise year from the emerging franchise brands dataset (FDD Item 1), 78 of 234 brands (33.3%) held their oldest live registration before they first franchised; 156 registered it in the same year or later.

A later registration date is not the same as a later start. Many franchisors refile a new logo or let an old registration lapse and register a new one, so the oldest live registration can be younger than the brand. Under 15 U.S.C. 1057(c), priority runs from the application filing date once the mark registers, but earlier local users keep their rights. The median brand in this group had franchised for 15.0 years.

Item 13 litigation and infringement disclosures

Most Item 13s report a clean record. 8 FDDs describe a trademark proceeding: court cases over a mark, TTAB oppositions or cancellations, USPTO refusals or suspensions of the franchisor side’s applications, or a foreign revocation action. 19 FDDs (7.3%) describe a known third-party user, a prior-rights claim or a coexistence arrangement, often limited to one city or county. 9 name an agreement other than the owner’s license that limits where or how the marks can be used.

Taken together, 24 FDDs (9.3%) disclose at least one of these. 13 FDDs make no statement on superior prior rights or infringing uses, which 16 CFR 436.5(m) lists as a required disclosure. Lawsuits elsewhere in the FDD are counted in the separate franchise litigation disclosure (Item 3) report.

Ownership matters too: in 126 FDDs (48.6%) the marks belong to a parent, affiliate or another owner and are licensed to the franchisor, so the franchise rests on that license as well as on the registration.

What a buyer should check in a franchise trademark

These are checks a reader can do in a few minutes with public records. They are not legal advice; a franchise attorney can assess what a finding means for a particular deal.

• Find the brand name in Item 13 and note each registration number and the register stated.
• Look up each number in USPTO TSDR: status (LIVE or DEAD), registration date, owner name, and the goods and services covered.
• If Item 13 prints the unregistered-mark statement, read which mark it covers: the brand name, a new logo or a slogan.
• For a pending application, check the TSDR prosecution history for office actions, suspensions or oppositions.
• Check that the TSDR owner matches the franchisor or the licensor Item 13 names, and read the license terms if the marks are licensed (see also franchise agreement terms).
• Read the superior prior rights and infringing uses paragraph for named cities or counties near the planned territory.

Trademark status is one input among many; fee levels (franchise royalty rates), franchise costs and resale terms (franchise resale) shape the economics. Our guide to buying a franchise covers the wider review.