Imagine a NBA Superstar being so frustrated that you, and your lil’self trademarked a slogan before they could and now they are crying to the WOLRD about you and your little business?!
Well, that is exactly what is happening to one small business owner and I couldn’t be more proud of that business owner.
LeBron James is pissed that he tried to trademark the phrase “Taco Tuesday” and to his surprise, even his high powered attorneys can’t overrule the seal of registered trademark secured by another person decades beforehand. Taco Tuesday® has been registered and owned by another fast-food restaurant, Taco John’s, since 1989!
So, what is James going to do about? What any other bagazillionaire would do - Team up with their rich friends and cry about it publicly, in hopes of over turning the law!
James as teamed up with Taco Bell®, and launched a full blown campaign in hopes of getting the USPTO to take away Taco John’s trademark. James has even gone as far as to say no one should be able to own a trademark for the phase because it is such a common phrase…. Obviously he wasn’t saying that when he was trying to trademark it himself just a few years ago!
Check out the commercial with James and Taco Bell below!
Now Taco Bell has at least 15,638 locations, while Taco John’s has merely 400. But that didn't stop Taco Bell from announcing last week that it filed legal petitions via the USPTO Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to "liberate" the phrase for restaurants nationwide by canceling the federal trademark registrations for “Taco Tuesday.”
Despite, this orchestrated effort to sabotage the rights of this business owner, I I hope these several months (and years to come) are some of Taco John’s most profitable years to date thanks to the publicity and attention their brand (and their trademark) is now gaining thanks to LeBron James’s salty ego.
And just for the record, I still love the entire James family, but this move was below the belt.