The long-running battle over the trademark for the phrase “Taco Tuesday” has finally come to an end, with Taco Bell emerging victorious.
Taco John’s, a smaller fast food chain that had owned the trademark for “Taco Tuesday” in all states except New Jersey since 1989, announced on Tuesday that it would be abandoning the trademark. The decision came after Taco Bell filed a petition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in May, arguing that the phrase had become too generic to be trademarked.
“We’re excited to announce that Taco John’s will be abandoning our federal trademark registration for ‘Taco Tuesday,’” said Taco John’s CEO Jim Creel in a statement. “We believe that this is the right decision for our brand and our customers, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to have used the phrase for so many years.”
“We’ve always prided ourselves on being the home of Taco Tuesday, but paying millions of dollars to lawyers to defend our mark just doesn’t feel like the right thing to do,” Creel said July 18 in a statement explaining the company’s decision.
“As we’ve said before, we’re lovers, not fighters, at Taco John’s. So in that spirit, we have decided to begin sharing Taco Tuesday with a pledge to contribute $100 per location in our system to restaurant employees with children who are battling a health crisis, death or natural disaster,” added Creel. “And we’re challenging our litigious competitors and other taco-loving brands to join us in supporting the people who serve our favorite food to guests across the nation.”
Taco Bell had argued that the phrase “Taco Tuesday” had become so widely used that it had lost its distinctiveness. The company pointed to the fact that the phrase is now used by a wide variety of businesses, including restaurants, grocery stores, and even schools.
“The phrase ‘Taco Tuesday’ is now a part of everyday language,” said Taco Bell CEO Brian Niccol in a statement. “It’s a day that people look forward to, and we believe that everyone should be able to use it.”
The decision by Taco John’s to abandon the trademark is a major victory for Taco Bell, which has been using the phrase “Taco Tuesday” in its marketing for years. The company now has the freedom to use the phrase without fear of legal repercussions.
‘Taco Tuesday’ War Ends In Truce: Taco John’s Ends Trademark Fight With Taco Bellhttps://t.co/KkR8ujt6If pic.twitter.com/kGk8bgj3aQ
— Forbes (@Forbes) July 19, 2023
