I don't know enough about Dunkin' Donuts to know the answer to their situation specifically. That being said, a lot of food corporations own multiple trademark

I don't know enough about Dunkin' Donuts to know the answer to their situation specifically. That being said, a lot of food corporations own multiple trademarks / brands. Sometimes when a corporation buys another corporation, a decision is made regarding branding, and the geography of where each brand will live. This is why you have Hardee's on the East Coast and Carls Jr. on the West Coast. They're the same company, albeit with a slightly varied menu. So, I wonder if there is a DD owned donut chain in California, and it's just not common knowledge. [Edit: I did a little research and it looks like that may be the case. There are quite a few multi-national corporations with a hand in Dunkin Donuts' corporate life: http://www.dunkinbrands.com/aboutus/history.html http://www.dunkinbrands.com/aboutus/history.html] [Edit 2: Evidently it's not that complicated; Dunkin Donuts was in CA previously, and withdrew in the late 90's due to market forces (i.e. poor sales). I read an article that said in 2002 95% of their locations were east of the Mississippi. So, it looks like it's just economics at work.]