WBRZ - Baton Rouge

There's a fight brewing over the use of the word "footlong" by Subway Sandwiches. A convenience store chain in Iowa wants a federal court to rule the word belongs in the general English vocabulary and is not the special property of Subway and its 12-inch long sandwiches. Casey's General Stores filed a petition seeking a judgement that the term "footlong" is generic. This comes after Subway's lawyer threatened legal action because Casey's describes some of the sandwiches in its cases as "footlong." Subway has a trademark request pending with the U.S. patent office.