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‘Taco Tuesday’ Trademark War Ends With Taco John’s Surrender to Taco Bell

Taco John’s, a regional chain, will “abandon” its bid to shield the famous phrase from usage by Taco Bell.

The taco dust has finally settled in the battle for the use of the phrase “Taco Tuesday,” with regional chain Taco John’s announcing Tuesday that it will “abandon” its attempts to protect its federal trademark from rival Taco Bell. The fast-food behemoth had asked the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in May to “liberate the phrase for restaurants nationwide.” In a statement to CNN on Tuesday, Taco John’s CEO Jim Creel said, “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.” Instead, Creel said, Taco John’s would donate $400 for each of its nearly 100 locations to Children of Restaurant Employees, a nonprofit that supports workers in crisis. He challenged Taco Bell to do the same. “It’s a sad day for us and our franchisees and a lot of our customers,” Creel told The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the end of the fight. “But at the same time we will still have Taco Tuesday, and others will have Taco Tuesday as well.” The smaller Wyoming-based chain held the “Taco Tuesday” trademark for 34 years.