Correction: Our National Taco Tuesday Nightmare Is Over, Except In New Jersey
from the doomed dept
It appears I slightly exaggerated the state of the Taco Tuesday trademark saga in my last post. After decades of ridiculous bullying coming from Taco John’s concerning the trademark it somehow was granted on “Taco Tuesday” — a term that is generic on its face, became more generic over time, and is also at least partially descriptive — Taco Bell’s war on the trademark finally caused Taco John’s to relinquish the trademark entirely. And, in that post, I declared the whole saga over.
But that’s because I forgot that New Jersey exists. See, Taco John’s held the trademark for “Taco Tuesday,” yes, but only in 49 states. In Jersey, the trademark holder for the term is a small restaurant owned by Gregory Gregory (not a typo) and named, you guessed it, Gregory’s Restaurant.
And, according to all accounts and statements from Gregory, he plans to fight Taco Bell’s attempt to vacate his trademark.
A New Jersey restaurant is fighting what it calls a “David and Goliath” battle over the trademark for Taco Tuesday. Gregory Gregory owns Gregory’s Restaurant in New Jersey. He said he started Taco Tuesday in 1979 and trademarked the phrase a few years later. But now he’s in a battle with national chain Taco Bell over the trademark.
That leaves Gregory’s the lone holdout against Taco Bell. The restaurant doesn’t have the same financial power as the chain, but Gregory hopes they can prevail against the larger company.
Indeed, but financial power isn’t really the problem here. The problem is that all the reasons that would have been laid out in court against Taco John’s would apply in New Jersey as well. And the fact that Taco John’s lawyers ostensibly looked at all this and advised their client to run away instead should tell Gregory all he needs to know. The term was generic and descriptive to start with and only became more and more generic over time.
Resistance on this is doomed, in other words. One way or the other, the term Taco Tuesday will be freed.
Filed Under: new jersey, taco tuesday, trademark
Companies: gregory gregory, taco bell, taco john's
Comments on “Correction: Our National Taco Tuesday Nightmare Is Over, Except In New Jersey”
Whoa, at first I thought there was a glitch in the matrix.
Re:
At least it isn’t owned by Corrina Corrina. It would be weird if she owned Gregory’s Restaurant. Where you can get anything you want, excepting trademark sanity.
Re: yes, glitch
Yes, there is a glitch in the matrix. You (and I) that glitch.
Taco Toilets
Alive and well in New Jersey. That’s about it.
Just like that...
A New Jersey restaurant is fighting what it calls a “David and Goliath” battle over the trademark for Taco Tuesday.
… if ‘David’ was camped out on land that should never have been granted to them and should have been open to the public the entire time, and ‘Goliath’ was trying to get them to take down the damn fence and let people enter freely then sure, just like David and Goliath.
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Places that feature a large variety of prepped cold components to their meals are a poor choice during Summer months. Why? Those cold tables aren’t just a vector for foodborne illness, they can also frequently be a paradise for the common housefly. When the place is busy, the lid to that cold table stays open, granting easy access to such flying vermin. They lay their eggs on all of that stuff, along with defecating every time they land. How did I learn all of this? Once upon a time I didn’t finish all of the tacos I picked up on the way home from the bar, so I tossed the leftover ones in the fridge for the next day. Good thing I looked before I bit into one, because the next day they were ALL crawling with maggots.
Re:
?
Re: Re:
This is why it’s Taco Tuesday, and you should never attempt Taco Wednesday Morning.
solution
taco monday
Wrong link?
Hey Tim – I can’t find your actual last post on this item, and the link in the article goes to:
https://www.techdirt.com/2023/08/02/netflix-defeats-spurious-slumlord-millionaire-lawsuit/
Which is not about this at all. Did some wires get crossed here?
Taco Tuesday AND Taco Thursday?
The fools! It should be THAC0 Thursday!
All locations hold classic D&D sessions. The eating of tacos is still encouraged.