In 1971, a fast food legend, the QUARTER POUNDER, was born. Millions and millions of burgers later, on August 5, 1975, the QUARTER POUNDER was registered as a U.S. trademark. McDonald’s Corporation actually secured two QUARTER POUNDER registrations that day, No. 1017498 for a “hamburger sandwich,” and No. 1017623 for “restaurant services featuring a hamburger sandwich.” Both registrations are still in force, which is unsurprising since they are owned by a company that sells seventy-five burgers every second, serves one percent of the world’s population every day, and has at some point been the employer of one in every eight American workers.

By Evan-Amos (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons.