Taco John’s Claims Rights in Taco Tuesday

The “Taco Tuesday” battle exploded on Twitter, blogs, NewsOK, Fox 25 News, and even Facebook.  Taco John’s owns U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,572,589 for the mark TACO TUESDAY (seen below).  It appears that Taco John’s attorneys sent the Oklahoma City based Iguana Mexican Grill a letter notifying Iguana of Taco John’s alleged rights and registration.  Taco John’s also ordered Iguana to cease and desist usage of the hashtag #tacotuesday.

What started as an attempt by Taco John’s to assert its trademark rights, resulted in some fantastic PR for Iguana Grill.  For those of you that are not from Oklahoma, you should know that as Oklahomans, we stick together.  Iguana Grill has generously invested time and money into the community through volunteerism and food donations.  The Oklahoma City community is extremely loyal to Iguana and when everyone caught wind of Taco John’s requests, a frenzy of tweets ensued.  The community rallied around Iguana by voicing their support for the usage of “Taco Tuesday” on Twitter and Facebook.  Fans also showed their support by gathering at Iguana.  Iguana sold a record number of tacos on Tuesday – approximately 2,000 tacos.

Tuesday’s tweets included things like:

• “petition @tacojohns to stop copyright enforcement of #tacotuesday hashtag”
• “#tacotuesday is used all over CA! But qdoba uses #tacomonday. Who want #tacowednesday…Patent pending”
• “Potential new @iguanaokc promotion: @TacoJohns Sucks Tuesday #tacotuesday (They don’t have a patent on that one.)”
• “So does anyone know if ThirstyThursday has a copyright? If so, Who will hold a big party to celebrate the end? #tacotuesday”
• “Their trademark can’t keep the customers from calling it #TacoTuesday”

@TacoJohns even tweeted:

“Taco John’s holds the copyright to Taco Tuesday giving us the exclusive right to use and protect it.”

(Emphasis Added.)

So which one is it?  What exactly is Taco John’s trying to assert?  A patent?  A copyright?  A trademark?  It seems that even @TacoJohns needs some guidance as to the differences between copyrights and trademarks.  Taco John’s claim is centered around its alleged trademark, not copyright, for the phrase “Taco Tuesday.”

Generally speaking, patents protect inventions, copyrights protect creative works of authorship like music, photos, videos, and literary works, and trademarks protect brands.  Taco John’s is alleging that Taco Tuesday is their brand name, that they have trademark rights in it, and that Iguana cannot use it without their permission.  Are there legal arguments that could be made in response to Taco John’s?    Sure.  Does it matter that several other companies use the phrase “Taco Tuesday?”  Possibly.  But that is another post for another day.

For more information on the difference between patents, trademarks, and copyrights check out this PHOSITA blog post posted earlier last year.

Posted by Emily E. Campbell, August 4, 2010 at 6:43 am
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“humiliated” ketchup lawyer resigns

Well – it appears that Richard Phillips has been so humiliated by his “infamous” ketchup stain that he has resigned from his position for a “long planned” study break.

I see this as a win for the legal profession – instead of being rewarded, Mr. Phillips’ rude behavior has been chronicled across the internet on numerous blogs and news sites.  Google’s memory is long and it will be tough for Mr. Phillips ever truly get beyond this story.  Once again, be careful what you do – you never know when it might find its way onto the front page of a newspaper.

I hope that it is a wake-up call for all new associates and law firm partners that discourteous and obnoxious behavior within the profession will not be tolerated. 

I wonder what Baker & McKenzie’s clients thought of the young squire’s behavior?

From The Independent Online Edition:

Lawyer in argument over £4 ketchup stain quits firm

By Jonathan Brown

22 June 2005

The most famous ketchup stain in London has claimed its first victim. Richard Phillips, the City lawyer whose suit was soiled by the misdirected tomato sauce, has resigned from his position, it was announced yesterday.

Mr Phillips, 36, had decided to take a “long-planned” study break from work as the spillage continued to exercise the imaginations of some of the most highly paid professionals in London.

The £150,000-a-year senior associate, who is an IT law expert, is said to be humiliated by the media attention surrounding his claim for recompense for his £4 dry cleaning bill from the much lower paid legal secretary.

Jenny Amner, who is in her fifties, copied her withering e-mail reply to Mr Phillips’ request for payment to colleagues at the leading law firm Baker & McKenzie. Ms Amner, who was attending her mother’s funeral on the day she was contacted by the lawyer, was furious that he had asked for the money.

Colleagues of Ms Amner, who is reported to earn £25,000 a-year, offered to hold a collection to raise the £4 but she declined and paid the sum herself .

Writing to Mr Phillips on 3 June, nine days after the spoilt lunch, she said that she had declined an offer by colleagues to chip in to cover the cleaning bill.

“With reference to the e-mail below, I must apologise for not getting back to you straight away but due to my mother’s sudden illness, death and funeral I have had more pressing issues than your £4.

“I apologise again for accidentally getting a few splashes of ketchup on your trousers. Obviously your financial need as a senior associate is greater than mine as a mere secretary.”

If he wanted the money, it would be on her desk that afternoon, she told him. The e-mail eventually found its way to various news organisations.

After Ms Amner’s e-mail had been circulated, recipients began adding their own comments as they forwarded the note. One said: “This guy should emigrate.” The e-mails were also sent to other workers in the City who added their own abusive observations including: “Who said that lawyers get paid too much?”

However, Ms Amner of Bexleyheath, south-east London, is now facing something of a backlash over her decision to go public and is understood to be considering her future with the global law firm. Colleagues have isolated her saying they believe Mr Phillips has been unfairly victimised. Postings on legal internet chat rooms have also heaped scorn on her.

A spokeswoman for Baker & McKenzie said Mr Phillips had decided to leave the firm “long before” the publication of the e-mail exchange. In a statement, the company said: “Richard resigned in early June. He will leave us in September and he is working out his notice.

The statement continued: “He resigned after the e-mail exchange between him and Jenny Amner but before all the publicity. We stress that we did not accept his resignation over this incident.”

Both Ms Amner and Mr Phillips have been given leave from work until the row blows over.

Baker & McKenzie is the fifth largest legal company in the world and the average profit share of a partner, one step up from senior associate, is £364,000.

Another London law firm, Norton Rose, demonstrated the destructive power of e-mails in 2000 when Claire Swire, an employee, sent an e-mail to a colleague describing a sex act. The leaked note, forwarded to six other people, went on to be seen by millions of people around the world.

Posted by Douglas Sorocco, June 22, 2005 at 6:45 pm
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phosita ::: quick links for 2005-06-18

• business2blog: Here Comes Technology’s Fifth Wave
• Random Thoughts from a CTO: The Leadership Paradox
  “An interesting phenomenon has happened as I progress down this road of life as a manager, my role has changed significantly from when I first started. In the beginning, I felt that as a manager it was my job to be smarter than the group, to have all …”
• BusinessPundit: Lying, Marketing, and Perception
  “The biggest surprise is that our reality is determined as much by what happens in our heads as what happens external to them. In other words, perception is reality. Let me repeat that. Perception is reality.”
• Crossroads Dispatches: It Ain’t Hard
  “I’ve read and absorbed so many gurus and pundits dazzling “brilliance” of late that my own simple, “pedestrian” intuition had nearly flushed away. Once in a while, you can actually read a book that reminds you of your own (simple) truth.”
• Fotolog.net
• Common Craft – Sage Words from Mr. Jobs
  “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important …”

Posted by Douglas Sorocco, June 18, 2005 at 6:17 am
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PHOSITA ::: Quick Links for 2005-06-16

• Patent Reform: Redlined Version of Patent Statute (created by Shashank Upadhye and Dennis Crouch) You can download the redline here.
• Yoda Origami (pdf) - impress your Star Wars crazed friends with paper.

Posted by Douglas Sorocco, June 16, 2005 at 9:26 am
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links for 2005-06-09

• Microsoft announces Windows Mobile Direct Push Technology – Engadget – www.engadget.com

Posted by Douglas Sorocco, June 9, 2005 at 6:16 am
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phosita ::: quick links for 2005-06-07

DUI Defendants Skip Charge By Asking How Test Works - Could open source code really prevent drunk driving?

Wall Street Journal Unrealistic on Patent Costs – Even in the “middle coast,” I think the prices quoted in the Wall Street Journal were a little low. The Patent Baristas seem to agree.

Posted by Douglas Sorocco, June 7, 2005 at 10:57 am
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Inc.’s Best Places to do Business in Oklahoma

Inspired by Todd over at the A Penny For … blog, I wandered over to Inc. Magazine’s May online article entitled “Best Places To Do Business”. 

I am proud to be able to announce that Oklahoma does very well in the overall rankings – a testament to the efforts the state and its residents have made over the past 10 years.

Oklahoma cities on the list include:

#3 Tulsa

– Most Balanced Economy and Growth

 
#47 Oklahoma City -

  Best Places — Large

#65  Tulsa

 - Best Places — Medium

#84  Enid

  - Best Places — Small

#114  Oklahoma City

  - Most Balanced Economy and Growth

 
#115 Lawton

 - Best Places — Small

#150  Oklahoma City

  - Fastest, Most Sustained Growth

#150  Oklahoma City

  - Best Places – Overall

#159  Enid

  - Fastest, Most Sustained Growth

#186  Tulsa

  - Best Places – Overall

#214 Enid

  - Best Places – Overall

#230 Enid

  - Most Balanced Economy and Growth

#238 Lawton

  - Most Balanced Economy and Growth

#254  Lawton

  - Fastest, Most Sustained Growth

#258  Tulsa

  - Fastest, Most Sustained Growth

#269  Lawton

  - Best Places – Overall

Why is Oklahoma doing so well? According to Inc, it is part of the “home-shoring” that is occurring:

Thanks to lower housing and labor costs, more favorable regulatory environments, and, in some cases, lower taxes, these smaller cities are proving ideal places for doing business — especially in a globalized economy in which companies operate under relentless pressure to keep costs low and quality high. In many cases, it is precisely these low costs that allow U.S. companies to successfully compete in industries that often seem all but ready to concede to India and other countries. Rather than sending business overseas, many companies are instead opting to contract with lower-cost domestic suppliers — a new wrinkle in the outsourcing trend known as home-shoring.

“Home-shoring” – sounds like a Rethink(IP) concept.

Posted by Douglas Sorocco, June 1, 2005 at 8:10 am
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