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this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2023
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Fuck Taco Bell. Taco Bell only won because Taco John's didn't have deep enough pockets to defend the trademarked term they legally had.
Look, fuck the gross Yum Brands mega conglomerate, but the idea that someone could own the trademark to "Taco Tuesday" is fucking ridiculous.
Welcome to the US, where the rules are made up and the goalposts are set by the deepest pockets.
What makes it fucking stupid? Is it because it reaches a critical mass of usage, so the people get to take it back? Something else?
As an aside, I have a new product idea: Zoidberg’s Super Bowl of Cereal: I’m Lovin’ It!
It's not my point but that's literally how it legally works in the US. That's why Velcro insists on calling their product "Velcro brand hook and loop fastener"
That's actually pretty common too. Just off the top of my head: Cleanex, Xerox and Nintendo have all had to do similar things to protect their trademark.
Escalator was once a brand name.
They really started padding it towards the end to get to 50 but the first half or so of this listicle has a lot of good examples, quite a few that I didn't know
https://www.impactplus.com/blog/50-everyday-words-that-started-as-brands-and-trademarks
TIL about trademark erosion. Also, thanks for a proper response.
I guess Nintendo fought it successfully by getting the world to call the thing a “game console” rather than calling it a Nintendo. Hoover failed to defend the verb “Hoover” and lost it.
In this case, it just seems like the win is for Taco Bell and their efforts to gain, use and profit from the term. And that makes it feel a little gross and brutish. They could prove me wrong though.
Sometimes a soulless megacorp is the one in the right.
https://clickhole.com/heartbreaking-the-worst-person-you-know-just-made-a-gr-1825121606/
It's a food item and a day of the week.
Yeah, "super bowl" also shouldn't be trade marked, It's far too generalized to be reasonable. Zoidberg should be as that is a character in a show and should be claimed by the creators with exception given to people whom have that name in real life referring to their own products.
I'm lovin' it also shouldn't be trademarked. It's literally just an expression of joy.
I don't get why this has to be a difficult concept. McDonald's didn't create anything new. The NFL didn't fabricate the concept of extraordinary dishware. It is absolutely nonsense that anyone with enough money and influence can just choose a couple pre-existing words out of the English language and claim ownership.
No, Taco Bell won because WHO THE FUCK IS TACO JOHN'S AND WHY THE FUCK DO THEY OWN TACO TUESDAY?
Did you know that two companies had ownership of that trademark? Does anyone associate "Taco Tuesday" with anything but being alliterative? Do people immediately think of Taco John's or Gregory's when they hear "Taco Tuesday?"
No.
They probably think of every elementary school that had a Taco Tuesday at least once a month. They probably think of the Lego Movie. They probably think they're hilarious and just made it up for the first time.
Even if you knew of Taco John's and knew they had Taco Tuesday, did you know that it was their trademark?
Taco John's did not relinquish the mark because they couldn't fight it. They relinquished it for the same reason Gregory's did... they knew their claim to the mark was MINIMAL at best and it would be trivial to show common usage of the term that would render it generic.
I actually do think of Taco John's when I think of Taco Tuesday because that was their big special thing for decades.
But I also don't care if 'Taco Tuesday' is something you can trademark. If Taco Bell wants to use it, fine.
Everyone knew except idiots like you hahahah
Fucking nobody knows what Taco John's is.
You mean everyone that lives in a state where this regional restaurant operates.
https://www.scrapehero.com/store/wp-content/uploads/maps/Taco_Johns_USA.png
The nearest one is 400 miles away from me.
Look at all that Midwest. Surely these tacos have to be cursed stains on the name. Especially from John. John ain't know no tacos.
I can't shit talk taco john's because we have Jim boy's tacos out here in Norrhern California lol
They put Parmesan cheese on the shells
So if I read the article correctly, they owned the trademark to "taco Tuesday" in States they didn't even have stores in? "Intellectual property" is such a farce
No, it's not a fucking farce you just have minimal knowledge of how this shit works. Which why the fuck would you be lame enough to know it?
So here's how it works, because I AM that lame...
A trademark can apply to any number of limited areas. It can be limited to a geographical region, it can be limited to industry, it can be limited to a specific service, it can be limited to a specific product.
If I start a restaurant called "McBurgerPlace" in NYC and it turns out there's already a McBurgerPlace in San Francisco... well it doesn't matter because the San Francisco McBurgerPlace only has one location. They may have a trademark on the name, but infringement of a mark hinges on the concept of confusion in the marketplace. Will someone reasonably confuse MBPNYC with MBPSF? The answer is no. They're on opposite sides of the country, in different markets, serving different menus. There's no infringement because the market for each is limited to their nearby geographic region. Let's say I'm better at burgers. I start to expand. Soon, I operate 363,824 MBP restaurants worldwide. I am the king of food. Except that I'm not. I can't break into the Bay Area. Why can't I? Because that's MBPSF's territory. They were there first. They had the trademark prior to my registration. As such, I cannot enter that market with that name. Doing so would threaten their mark and lead to a lawsuit that I would almost certainly lose. It would be much easier to just rename my restaurants in that area BcPlurgerMace and get on with life.
This exact thing happened to Burger King. https://www.businessmatters925.com/post/burger-king-vs-burger-king-trademark-infringement-case-study
Look at a local business directory and see how many places are named "Five Star." Laundry, plumbing, electric, movers, etc. You can have that many "Five Star" businesses because they operate in different market segments. Nobody is going to call Five Star Plumbing thinking they're actually calling Five Star Movers. There's no competition. There is no dilution of the mark. There is no infringement.
Trademark and IP law is fucking stupid unless you're a goddamn moron and waste considerable amounts of your life reading way too much about it. For money. Because it's your job.
Life Pro Tip: Don't be a paralegal.
No, I understand how it works, nothing in your rambling justification is new to me. This one case is not the only reason why I think "intellectual property" is stupid. Just like with crypto weirdos, people who support "intellectual property" absolutely cannot fathom that someone knows how it works and doesn't like it.
Whatever you have to tell yourself so you don't have to confront that you've wasted your life defending made up nonsense.
Your explanation is interesting (and I learned a thing or two), but it fails to explain how such a term as Taco Tuesday could be considered a trademark in locations where the owner of the trademark is implanted.
Because trademarks are about market. There is no reason for a business in California to have a say over what a business in New York is named if neither will be entering the other's market.
It happens sometimes that two businesses will have the same mark in different markets but one outpaces the other in growth. If one starts encroaching on the other it typically comes down to a determination of which one was used first in that area. This is why you have the example I gave. It's also why Burger King is called Hungry Jack's in Australia.
Another issue is one of identification. Is this mark associated with this business? Unless you happen to live in an area where there's a Taco John's did you even know they existed? I had never heard of them because the nearest one to me in is fuckin' Arkansas about 400 miles from here. They're concentrated in the midwest. It's a regional chain. Why should they have any claim to a trademark in Florida? Simple answer is: They shouldn't and don't. The term is too generic and has been used by places that sell tacos for longer than this company has been around. They knew they would lost just on basic facts and no matter how they try to spin it as "BIG COMPANY BAD" the fact is they shouldn't have had the mark in the first place.
Oh wow, I had no idea there were two of them in my state, (but other side of it from the major cities) - I definitely first heard of it in relation to the copyright claim.
They should have never been granted the trademark based on prioriry. They did not coin or use the term first. They are not fighting because they know they wouldn't survive a challenge which is why they just bullied small shops who themselves didn't have the pockets to defend themselves.
I don't think that's what happened? Based on this article and another one I read, it seems that now the Taco Tuesday trademark is relinquished meaning anyone can use it. I'm guessing taco bell would rather everyone be able to use it including them rather than it being locked down by someone who's not them.
Indeed that was the case:
https://bennystacos.com/taco-tuesday-legendary-tradition/
So Taco John gave up the trademark and now any restaurant can advertise "Taco Tuesday" specials.
My understanding is Taco John’s used to prevent smaller shops from using it
Do you really want Taco John's to hold the usage rights to 'taco Tuesday'?