Taco Bell Scores A Win In Battle To End Taco Tuesday Trademark

IRVINE, CA — Taco Bell scored a major victory in its quest to “liberate” Taco Tuesday when Taco John’s announced it would abandon its patent and trademark registration for the phrase.

“This is a shared victory with taco allies everywhere," Taco Bell CEO Mark King said in a prepared statement. "Taco John's decision to join the movement and liberate Taco Tuesday means countless businesses big and small, restaurants, and taco vendors can now embrace, celebrate and champion ‘Taco Tuesdays’ freely."

Irvine-based Taco Bell filed legal petitions in May to cancel federal trademark registrations for the expression.

"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," Taco John's CEO Jim Creel said in a news release Tuesday.

Cheyenne-based Taco John’s held the trademark in 49 states for over 40 years, but Taco Bell argued the phrase was common enough it should be available for all businesses to use without fear of legal action.

“How can anyone Live Más if they’re not allowed to freely say ‘Taco Tuesday?’” the company asked in its May press release announcing the filing. “It’s pure chaos.”

A Change.org petition seeking support for the end of the trademark received nearly 25,000 signatures.

As part of the announcement that it would abandon its legal claim to Taco Tuesday, Taco John’s committed to giving $100 per each of its locations to restaurant workers with children experiencing a health crisis, death or natural disaster, and suggested Taco Bell do the same.

"We challenge them to match our $100-per-restaurant pledge — that's about $720,000 — which is less than they'd have to spend in a legal battle for the mark,” Creel said in the news release.

Taco John's began its challenge with a $40,000 donation to the nonprofit Children of Restaurant Employees.

"We admire this initiative and plan on working with CORE and other organizations to identify how we can drive meaningful change for restaurant employees and their families,” King said.

The battle for Taco Tuesday isn’t over. A small business on the Jersey Shore called Gregory’s Restaurant & Bar owns the phrase’s registration in New Jersey, which Taco Bell is also seeking to cancel.

"We're hanging in there," Gregory's attorney Stephen Altamuro said. “We're sticking by our guns.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.