LOS ANGELES—Fast food chain Taco John’s announced July 18 it has dropped its dispute with Irvine-based Taco Bell over the phrase “Taco Tuesday” and abandoned its trademark.
The phrase had been a registered trademark of Taco John’s for 34 years, but in May, Taco Bell filed a petition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to cancel the mark, arguing that the phrase “should be freely available to all who make, sell, eat, and celebrate tacos.”
A Taco Bell spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Taco John’s CEO Jim Creel said the company was ending the beef because it doesn’t want to pay the legal fees that would result from a fight against Taco Bell.
“We’ve always prided ourselves on being the home of Taco Tuesday, but paying millions of dollars to lawyers to defend our mark just doesn’t feel like the right thing to do,” Mr. Creel said in a statement.
Instead, Mr. Creel said that the Cheyenne, Wyoming-based chain is donating $40,000—$100 per its roughly 400 locations—to Children of Restaurant Employees (CORE).
“As we’ve said before, we’re lovers, not fighters, at Taco John’s. So in that spirit, we have decided to begin sharing Taco Tuesday with a pledge to contribute ... to restaurant employees with children who are battling a health crisis, death, or natural disaster,” he said. “And we’re challenging our litigious competitors and other taco-loving brands to join us in supporting the people who serve our favorite food to guests across the nation.”
CORE is a nonprofit organization that “supports restaurant workers with children by providing financial relief when either the employee, spouse or a child faces a life-altering health crisis, injury, death or natural disaster,” Taco John’s said.
