New Jersey’s Gregory’s Restaurant Vs. Taco Bell ‘Taco Tuesday’ Latest

Gregory Gregory has been doing battle with a behemoth company, Taco Bell … which has 6,500 stores in the United States and worldwide.

Taco Bell serves an estimated more than 2 billion tacos each year.

Gregory’s Restaurant and Bar of Somers Point, New Jersey has held their own Taco Tuesday special since 1979.

We spent time with Gregory’s Restaurant and Bar attorney V. Scott Macom to get a handle on exactly where all of this stands right now.

Macom and Gregory Gregory will be appearing on-air with us today, Wednesday, August 23, 2023 for the 7:00 a.m. hour.

If you missed our live interview, you can listen to it on demand on our WPG Talk Radio 95.5 smartphone app.

Macom is a fearless fighter and Gregory’s Restaurant and Bar is lucky to have him … because it’s very hard to fight a worldwide entity that has very deep money pockets.

Companies that are this size are used to being able to spend any local challenge into the ground.

Gregory Gregory has shown no quit.

Macom shared the following exclusively with us:

“The Trademark Reg. No. is 77124322 to Gregory Hotel Inc. Taco Tuesday trademark has been with Gregory Hotel Inc since 1979. In the 80s they missed a deadline to provide proof of service mark usage. At a certain point Gregory Hotel inc. reached an agreement with Taco Johns to limit their usage of the mark to red lined New Jersey exclusively,” said Macom.

Macom continued to convey pertinent information that has not been shared anywhere else until now:

”Recently, Taco Johns, in reaction to Taco Bell’s Notice of Cancellation (49 states), a filing with TABB, Trademark Appeals Board, a federal court in essence, settled with Taco Bell. The settlement was large, I surmise, it is sealed, so no one will ever know, but as a part of the deal, and continuation of the narrative struck by Taco Bell that Taco Tuesday belongs to everyone, they did a publicity stunt whereby they donated $400,000, matched by TB to some charity.”

”The stumbling block for Taco Bell in New Jersey is that they are attacking a legitimate mark holder. They filed for cancellation and most notably alleged that Gregory has failed to police its mark, in addition to the allegation that the term is meaningless given common and fair usage. However, Gregory’s has files of Cease-and-Desist letters on hand. This is strong evidence that the mark is guarded, said Macom.

Macom skillfully opened the door for a potential opportunity to settle this controversy.

Macom also noted that:

“There is one other Taco Tuesday mark from a company in Jalisco, Mexico, for agave tequila, a different service mark due to its origins and usage.”

“The case here revolves around the attack on a small bar in New Jersey, a fact that I know you know that New Jerseyans don't take lightly.”

”The backlash has been fierce against Taco Bell and my contacts tell me there is a high appetite for boycotts.”

No one wants boycotts, however, Macom knows that even the threat of such economic interruption is something that New Jersey Taco Bell franchises do not want to learn if they can withstand.

I am filing this article a few hours before our 7:00 a.m. interview with Macom and Gregory.

We will be addressing the issue of what a boycott would mean and the prospects that it could lead Taco Bell to the settlement table.

Macom has a follow-up meeting with Taco Bello set for tomorrow.

Developing.