- NBA star and taco superfan LeBron James filed a trademark for "Taco Tuesday" in August.
- Records show the company sought protections for the term for "downloadable audio/visual works," "advertising and marketing services," "search engine marketing," "blogging," and podcasts.
- The slogan has been owned for 30 years by Taco John's, a taco chain from Wyoming that has roughly 400 locations in 23 states.
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NBA star and taco superfan LeBron James filed a trademark for "Taco Tuesday" in August of this year.
LBJ Trademarks, a company James owns, made the trademark filing with the patent and trademark office in mid-August, according to USA Today.
Records show the company sought to protections of the term for "downloadable audio/visual works," "advertising and marketing services," "search engine marketing," "blogging," and podcasts.
James has made multiple Instagram videos professing his love for tacos on Tuesday, including one after he failed to qualify for the NBA Playoffs for the first time in nine years.
But James's spokesman downplayed the significance of the trademark filing.
"The filing was to protect the company from potential lawsuits should we decide to pursue any ideas, nothing of which is in development," the spokesman said, according to The Los Angeles Times. "It has nothing to do with stopping others from using the term."
LBJ Trademarks could face difficulty in the trademark proceedings. The slogan has been owned for 30 years by Taco John's, a taco chain from Wyoming that has roughly 400 locations in 23 states. Taco John's issued warnings to restaurants that have used the term, claiming that it was "extremely important to us to protect our rights in this mark."
The taco chain trademarked the term in 1989 and assumed ownership in all of the US except for New Jersey, where the slogan was already trademarked by another restaurant.
While, the move by LBJ Trademarks was met with mixed reactions on social media and from Angelenos, Los Angeles Times writer Gustavo Arellano wrote that it's possible this filing could open up a bigger fight, saying, "LeBron should devote his upcoming legal battle to getting the USPTO to declare 'Taco Tuesday' un-trademarkable."
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