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On May 16th, 2023, Taco Bell filed a petition with the United States Patent and Trademark Office to cancel the 鈥淭aco Tuesday鈥� trademark currently owned by rival restaurant chain Taco John鈥檚. What was once seen as a publicity stunt has turned into a full marketing campaign for Taco Bell with an ongoing 鈥渓iberation journey鈥� to free Taco Tuesday for the masses.

Nearly one week into the expedition, global superstar and longtime Taco Tuesday supporter, Lebron James, joined the effort to free Taco Tuesday.

鈥溾�楾aco Tuesday is a tradition that everyone should be able to celebrate. All restaurants, all families, all businesses 鈥� everybody,鈥� says LeBron James. 鈥溾�楾aco Tuesdays鈥� create opportunities that bring people together in so many ways, and it鈥檚 a celebration that nobody should own.鈥�

Lebron James stars in the new ad campaign for Taco Bell promoting the fight against the ownership of Taco Tuesday and encouraging the taco community to join together. One commercial titled Taco Bleep aims to highlight the silliness of this 鈥渏ourney鈥� with James getting censored every time he tries to say Taco Tuesday.

Honestly, it seems that a lot of this journey is designed to be tongue in cheek. In their petition, Taco Bell claims that the current registration of Taco Tuesday could hurt taco supporters 鈥渟imply for pursuing happiness on a Tuesday.鈥� Also, Taco Bell asks how can they tell their fans to Live M谩s, 鈥渋f their favorite taco joints aren鈥檛 even allowed to freely say Taco Tuesday.鈥� The preface of the petition ends with the rallying cry, 鈥渨hen tacos win, we all win.鈥�

However, even with the comedic approach within the petition, Taco Bell does make genuine legal arguments for the cancellation of the trademark. The first claim for cancellation is that the trademark Taco Tuesday has become generic.

A trademark can become generic through a process known as genericide. Genericide occurs when a trademark that was once distinctive and associated with a particular brand or source becomes widely used by the public as a generic term, or phrase, to refer to a general category of products or services, rather than a specific brand. Many well-known trademarks have been lost due to genericide, some famous examples include Thermos, Aspirin, and Escalator.

Taco Tuesday is a tradition that everyone should be able to celebrate. All restaurants, all families, all businesses 鈥� everybody. Taco Tuesdays鈥� create opportunities that bring people together in so many ways, and it鈥檚 a celebration that nobody should own.鈥�

Lebron James

The second claim for cancellation by Taco Bell is that the trademark has been abandoned due to the owner鈥檚 conduct which includes acts of omission and/or commission. The argument from Taco Bell here is likely that Taco John鈥檚 failure to actively enforce their rights and their allowance of others to use Taco Tuesday without objection has contributed to the mark becoming generic. If a mark is consistently used by others, it erodes a mark鈥檚 distinctiveness and leads to it becoming generic.

It鈥檚 important to note that Taco Bell is not seeking any damages and they are not planning on registering Taco Tuesday for themselves. Instead, Taco Bell decrees that they are, 鈥渉onoring people鈥檚 right to come together and celebrate the joys of tacos, on Tuesdays and every other day.鈥�

I agree with Taco Bell that Taco Tuesday has become a widely used and recognized phrase, however, commonly used phrases have become registered trademarks in the past. One example of a commonly used phrase that has been trademarked is the famous slogan of Nike, 鈥淛ust Do It.鈥� “Just Do It” is a widely recognized and often-used phrase in everyday English that conveys a sense of motivation, determination, and action. Nike successfully registered this phrase as a trademark for their athletic apparel and related products.

Taco John鈥檚 seems not to be taking the Taco Bell petition lightly. 鈥淲hen it comes right down to it, we鈥檙e lovers, not fighters, at Taco John鈥檚,鈥� the chain鈥檚 CEO Jim Creel said in a statement. 鈥淏ut when a big, bad bully threatens to take away the mark our forefathers originated so many decades ago, well, that just rings hollow to us. If 鈥榣iving m谩s鈥� means filling the pockets of Taco Bell鈥檚 army of lawyers, we鈥檙e not interested.鈥�

In my opinion, I think the legal arguments from Taco Bell are compelling and could possibly succeed in cancelling the registered mark, but regardless, I believe the bad publicity from this campaign will end up being the reason for the liberation of Taco Tuesday when all is said and done. In this rare case, I don鈥檛 mind a company giving up their legal intellectual property rights for the common good. As Taco Bell said in their request, 鈥渁 win for Taco Bell here is a win for all.鈥�