'Taco Tuesday' trademark tiff flares anew between fast food competitors

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Declaring a mission to liberate “Taco Tuesday” for all, Taco Bell is asking U.S. regulators to force Wyoming-based Taco John’s to abandon its longstanding claim to the trademark. Actively defending a trademark is key to maintaining claim to it, and the letter was just one example of Taco John's telling restaurants far and wide that nobody else may use “Taco Tuesday.” Taco John's responded to Taco Bell's filing by announcing a new two-week Taco Tuesday promotion, with a large side of riposte. “I’d like to thank our worthy competitors at Taco Bell for reminding everyone that Taco Tuesday is best celebrated at Taco John’s,” CEO Jim Creel said in an emailed statement. “We love celebrating Taco Tuesday with taco lovers everywhere, and we even want to offer a special invitation to fans of Taco Bell to liberate themselves by coming by to see how flavorful and bold tacos can be at Taco John’s all month long.” Yet “Taco Tuesday" has such widespread use and recognition these days — as a generic way of promoting tacos on a specific day of the week — that Taco John's still can't claim exclusive ownership, Taco Bell claims in its filing.