Michael Atkins - Seattle Trademark Lawyer

Recommend Taco Tuesday Illustrates Need to Enforce Trademark Rights (Email)

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Taco John’s registered TACO TUESDAY as a trademark in 1989. At the time, that phrase presumably identified Taco John’s as the sole provider of restaurant services in connection with that brand. That’s what a trademark does — it earmarks a particular source as the provider of the branded good or service.

Flash forward 30 years. Now everyone has a “Taco Tuesday” promotion — bars, restaurants, university dining halls, mom’s kitchen. The phrase no longer points to a particular seller; it just means an event: taco night, discounted tacos, taco party.

So what happened? As more providers used the phrase, it stopped uniquely identifying Taco John’s. The mark fell into the public domain and became open for anyone to use. And use, they did.

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Copyright © 2006-2021, Michael G. Atkins. All rights reserved. I'm a partner and Seattle intellectual property attorney at Atkins Intellectual Property, PLLC, where I focus my practice on issues involving the Lanham Act, including trademark infringement, unfair competition, trade dress infringement, trademark dilution, false designation of origin, counterfeiting, cybersquatting, trademark licensing, trademark applications, trademark registrations, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), and the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB). Thanks for checking out my blog. Please visit again soon!