After an attempt to trademark the oh-so-popular “Taco Tuesday” phrase, NBA legend LeBron James was turned down by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The New York Times reports the patent office expressed that “Taco Tuesday” was “a commonplace term, message or expression widely used by a variety of sources that merely conveys an ordinary, familiar, well-recognized concept or sentiment.”
Josh Gerben, the founder of Gerben Law Firm, who specializes in trademarks, took to his Twitter account on Wednesday (Sept. 11) to post his analysis as to why trademarking the common term is impossible. The lawyer cited and scanned multiple documents with a brief yet thorough explanation.
The USPTO has refused the TACO TUESDAY trademark application filed by Lebron James’ company LBJ Trademarks, LLC.
The refusal, issued at 6:26 PM today, finds that TACO TUESDAY is a “commonplace message” and therefore fails to function as a trademark.#TacoTuesday
My analysis👇 pic.twitter.com/eKcW2l1CnH
— Josh Gerben (@JoshGerben) September 12, 2019
A spokesman for James said that his lawyers will continue to examine the patent office’s findings. In the end, the three-time NBA champion is able to respond to the USPTO filing with “added or adjusted language within six months” as reported by Yahoo Finance.
