I don’t know about suing but I heard a local mom and pop bar/restaurant got a cease and desist order (or whatever it is called) for advertising “Taco Tuesday”.
Around here Taco Tuesday is synonymous with Taco Johns. They were smart enough to trademark the phrase, let them have it. In looking at the list that Jackmannii has a linked to it seems Taco Bell has some pretty generic phrases. Other restaurants, like Applebee’s “Eating Good In The Neighborhood” or KFC’s “Finger Licking Good” have also enter the general language vernacular. Plus there are 6 other days of the week for them to choose from.
In my town Taco Bell is the Burger King of quick serve Mexican restaurants, the people who eat there are out of towners who don’t know any better. Locals usually go to Taco Johns or on the other side of town from me, Taco Tico. At times the drive thru line at Taco Tico will be backed up into the street and Taco Bell will have maybe 1 car in the lot and 2 in the drive thru.
In this spirit we once tried to come up with cute alliterative phrases for plausible restaurant food specials for each day of the week, and not limited to just Mexican:
Manicotti Monday
Taco Tuesday (of course)
etc.
Turns out Wednesday is the hard one. At least for me/us. Wasabi Wednesday was the best we could do.
Being as I’m a natural procrastinator and also not really aligned with the normal Mon - Fri workweek I also coined “Tardy Taco Thursday”. Because that’s usually about when I remember it’s been awhile since I had a taco & now I want one.
The trademark might only cover usage by restaurants, or food products; either that, or Wal-Mart is paying Taco John’s for use of the term.
Del Taco’s term is different (yes, it’s a reversal of the words, as well as adding another word), and I would strongly suspect that their lawyers weighed in on it, and advised them that it was sufficiently different that they’d be in the clear.
If Taco Bell is unsuccessful with this, I wonder if they can simply use “Taco Tues”? Is that sufficiently different from Taco Tuesday? I mean, it’s not Taco Bell’s fault if everyone just extends the saying by adding -day all the time. Or “Taco Twos-day” to encourage everyone to order two tacos. Or better yet, “Taco Martes.”
And if Del Taco can get away with Tuesday Taco Night, can Taco Bell get away with “Taco Tuesday”?
This brouhaha reminds me of the time Burger King threatened legal action against a small burger joint in Syracuse N.Y.
The restaurant had been selling its “Whopper” for years before Burger King came up with and trademarked their own “Whopper”. But BK wasn’t about to allow anyone else to share the glory.
The upshot was that the Syracuse place changed the name of their offering to the “Vopper”. As far as I know, that was the end of it.
Curiously, if you go to a BK in Azerbaijan, you can apparently order a Vopper.
This is the best item Taco John’s sells. Potato rounds, spiced and deep fried. I’ve even tried recipes online that people swear are the Taco John’s recipe, but nothing even close.
The rest of their food is pretty typical fast food quality, but still better than Taco Bell. I don’t know what the hell kind of meat Taco Bell uses, but it’s not anything I recognize.
In the restaurant business, Tuesday is typically the slowest day of the week. Hence restaurants will often have special promotions on Tuesdays to try to get more people into the restaurant on that day, with Taco Tuesday being one such promotion. Presumably they get enough business other days without having to offer special deals.
Exactly, and “Taco Tuesday” is the catchy name that they have for their Tuesday-only price promotion on tacos. It’s not just being used to say “eat our tacos on Tuesdays,” it’s “come in for a special deal on our tacos, which is only available on Tuesdays.”
This recent article indicates that they have a history of sending other restaurants cease-and-desist orders over the trademarked term, though it doesn’t provide details.
All the “Taco Tuesday” specials around here at Mexican restaurants are just that. A buck or two off each a la carte taco, with the regular menu still available at full price.
It’s amazing how expensive 4 margaritas, some chips & queso, and four tacos can be. Plus maybe a churro. The $4 collective discount on those tacos sure brought in some money.
That’s about all they can do, because they would probably lose in court. In 2019, LeBron James filed for a trademark of “Taco Tuesday”. The United States Patent and Trademark Office denied his request. But not because it already belonged to Taco Johns. It was denied because Taco Tuesday is “a commonplace term, message or expression widely used by a variety of sources that merely conveys an ordinary, familiar, well-recognized concept or sentiment.”
A local, upmarket supermarket chain here has been offering Sushi Wednesdays for years with a special on fresh-made sushi. At work, someone will sho up with a L&B bag at lunchtime on Wednesday and the co-workers will all ask if they are going to share it out.
All right. I’m not a law dude. And I can see a company trademarking the name of their restaurant, or the unique name for a sandwich, etc. But just two words like “taco” and “Tuesday”? I don’t feel comfortable living in a society that lets someone claim “MINE!” whenever someone else happens to put those freely available words together.
Where is the line? Where shall it be drawn? I can only go with my gut.
(Which is saying Tacos!)
Tuesday”?