Taco Tuesday

Taco Tuesday is a custom in many US cities of going out to eat tacos or in some cases select Mexican dishes, typically served in a tortilla on Tuesday nights. Restaurants will often offer special prices, for example, "$1 fish tacos every Tuesday night".[1]

Sign for Taco Tuesday

It is popular in many big cities across the nation, and especially popular in the beach cities of Southern California.[2][3] Taco Tuesday is similar to Happy Hour in that restaurants vary in their participation, hours, and specials offered.

Trademark status

The Wyoming-based fast food restaurant Taco John's was granted a trademark for "Taco Tuesday" in 1989, and has defended against other restaurants using that phrase. Taco John's trademark extends to all the United States except New Jersey; in New Jersey, Gregory's Restaurant & Bar of Somers Point trademarked the term in 1982.[4] In 2019, Los Angeles Lakers basketball player LeBron James began sharing social media posts on Instagram about his family's weekly taco dinners dubbed "Taco Tuesdays". Through shell company LBJ Trademarks LLC, he filed a trademark on the term "Taco Tuesday" for use in downloadable audio/visual works, podcasts, social media, online marketing, and entertainment services.[5] The request was denied by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, stating that Taco Tuesday was "a commonplace term, message or expression widely used by a variety of sources that merely conveys an ordinary, familiar, well-recognized concept or sentiment."[6]

In practice, Taco John's has been unable to stop widespread use of the term regardless.[5] Many taco fans disagree with the idea that any one entity can "own" the term "Taco Tuesdays".[5]

In May 2023, Taco Bell petitioned the United States Patent and Trademark Office, asking that the trademark be cancelled, arguing that the phrase "should be freely available to all who make, sell, eat and celebrate tacos." Taco Bell also said that "nobody should have exclusive rights in a common phrase."[7]

References
  1. Davy O., Rourke (August 7, 2013). "The Strange History Of Taco Tuesday". Our Tiempo. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014.
  2. "10 Places in L.A. to Eat $1 Tacos – Los Angeles | Los Angeles News and Events | LA Weekly". www.laweekly.com. Archived from the original on 2015-01-22.
  3. "T is for Taco Tuesday".
  4. Mayyasi, Alex. "The Trademarking of "Taco Tuesday"". Priceconomics. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  5. Hernandez, Daniel (September 4, 2019). "LeBron James, a Fan of Tacos, Seeks to Trademark 'Taco Tuesday'". The New York Times.
  6. Zaveri, Mihir (2019-09-11). "LeBron James Tried to Trademark 'Taco Tuesday,' but Got Swatted Away". The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  7. Valinsky, Jordan (May 16, 2023). "Taco Bell is fighting to cancel the 'Taco Tuesday' trademark". CNN. Retrieved May 16, 2023.


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