TSR Updatez: There was mixed reaction when news broke of Lebron James’ plans to trademark the phrase “Taco Tuesday.” While many enjoy the James family’s Tuesday night antics and even encouraged LeBron to invest in a Mexican restaurant, several people were surprised that he filed to trademark a term that people have been using for years.
And now a Mexican restaurant in Illinois is officially protesting LeBron’s trademark application for that reason. According to docs obtained by The Blast, a company named Taco Tuesday, Inc, filed a letter of protest against LeBron.
The restaurant owners claims the restaurant “specializes in taco sales,” and they have spent a significant amount of money operating their business, which includes advertising the Taco Tuesday name.
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The restaurant owners also explained that they have been featured on the “Chicago’s Best” TV show, and regularly use social media to market their business. They are worried that if LeBron is able to officially register “Taco Tuesday,” they will no longer be able to use the slogan online in connection with their own business.
LBJ Trademarks LLC filed the trademark for social media posts and a podcast. It sounds like LeBron may have plans to create weekly content in some way with that tagline.
The documents state that the Mexican restaurant “would be crippled if precluded from using its own business name in Internet marketing channels.”
An attorney for Taco Tuesday, Inc, had the following to say:
“Presumably the owner of the Applicant company enjoys eating tacos. Tens of millions of Americans enjoy eating tacos. The quality of being a person who enjoys eating tacos (and posting to social media about one’s experience in eating tacos deemed delicious) does not give rise to a cognizable claim to trademark ownership.”
LeBron’s trademark application, which was filed on August 15th, is still under review with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
