Taco John's Slams Taco Bell's Attempts to Overtake Taco Tuesday Trademark

By Adam Barnhardt

The war on Taco Tuesday isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Earlier this summer, Taco Bell unveiled a campaign to get the United States Patent and Trademark office to cancel the "Taco Tuesday" trademark currently owned by Taco John's. According to Taco Bell, the phrase is one that should be "freely available to all who make, sell, eat, and celebrate tacos."

In a response to Taco Bell's initial filing, the Cheyenne, WY-based Taco John's has filed its own response. Obtained by CNN, Taco John's says it "has the right to enforce its trademark rights against infringers and those who want to infringe, including Taco Bell," adding that the company "denies that enforcing its trademark rights against infringers who seek to profit from the goodwill that Spicy Seasonings and its licensees … have created over the last forty-four years violates any American ideal."

Taco John's parent company Spicy Seasonings has owned the trademark for over three decades and has no intentions on ceding control to the popular saying. According to trademark attorney Josh Gerben, the process could now play out over the next two years.

In speaking with CNN, Gerben said he expects both company's to complete consumer surveys to help prove their cases. When it comes to Taco Bell, the company will likely ask customers if they've ever associated the "Taco Tuesday" saying with the Spicy Seasonings-owned Taco John's or Gregory Hotel. On the Taco John's side of things, the company may complete a survey asking consumers if they feel Taco Bell has been "attempting to assist other restaurants or celebrities to use Taco Tuesday in an attempt to invalidate their trademark rights."

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As a part of Taco Bell's new movement, it released the filing it filed with the USPTO Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. "People like tacos on Tuesdays. They just do," the filing reads in part. "It's even fun to say: 'Taco Tuesday.' Tacos have the unique ability to bring people together and bring joy to their lives on an otherwise mediocre day of the week. But since 1989, entities associated with Registrant have owned a federal trademark for 'Taco Tuesday.' Not cool."

Taco Bell's petition in favor of canceling the trademark has just over 24,100 signatures as of this writing.

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