No Free Food In NJ For 'Taco Tuesday' Event Amid Trademark Battle With Taco Bell

NEW JERSEY — Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning for free tacos — but not in the Garden State.

Taco Bell will open its company wallet to pay for fans' Taco Tuesday meals, promising a $5 million "taco tab" for an upcoming date in September. The company will partner with DoorDash on Sept. 12 to reimburse Mexican food fans, whether or not they eat at Taco Bell. The promo will be available in every state, except New Jersey.

Why is that? Well, it's a bit of a story involving a trademark on the phrase "Taco Tuesday," which two entities held the rights to. Taco Bell wanted to release the trademark so any restaurant could use it, and they filed a petition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in May to "free" Taco Tuesday. And, the company was able to do so...everywhere but in New Jersey.

"The Taco Tuesday trademark registration has been canceled in all states except New Jersey," said Taco Bell. "Therefore, the DoorDash offer will be limited to the 49 states where Taco Tuesday has been freed."

One of the trademark holders was Taco John's, a chain with about 380 locations in the Midwest and Mountain West. Taco John's, which held the trademark for 34 years, agreed to give it up in 49 states.

“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 told CNN in a statement.

But Gregory's Restaurant & Bar, located in Somers Point, still holds the Taco Tuesday trademark in the Garden State. And the owner isn't giving it up.

Gregory’s claims to be the home of "The Original Taco Tuesday," serving its first-ever tacos on a Tuesday night in February of 1979. Gregory's has held the patent since 1982 and served more than 2 million tacos since then, the restaurant said.

"We're gonna try and play this out," owner Gregory Gregory told NBC10 Philadelphia back in July. "And hopefully Taco Bell will understand that, look — I'm a little guy, and I just want to make a living."

So, unless Gregory and Taco Bell come to an arrangement soon, New Jersey taco lovers will be left out of the equation on Sept. 12. However, there are a few more Tuesdays coming up where you can at least score a free Doritos Locos Taco: Aug. 15, Aug. 22, Aug. 29, and Sept. 5, at participating locations.