Taco Bell to pick up tab on Taco Tuesdays

Taco Tuesday will be a day to celebrate for the next month thanks to Taco Bell.

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The fast food restaurant will be giving away a free Doritos Locos Taco at all participating locations on Aug. 15, 22, 29 and Sept. 5, leading up to Sept. 12′s special Taco Tuesday, the company announced earlier this month.

On that day, in a partnership with DoorDash, Taco Bell will have a $5 million tab to cover some of each of the orders placed that day.

The promotion comes after Taco Bell won a legal case that will allow restaurants to use the name “Taco Tuesday” or, as the company said, “to celebrate the liberation of the Taco Tuesday trademark registration in 49 states.”

Taco John’s had held the trademark for “Taco Tuesdays,” but Taco Bell asked the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to cancel it because it is a common phrase, Reuters reported.

Taco John’s told the federal agency that it would abandon the trademark last month.

“We’ve always prided ourselves on being the home of Taco Tuesday, but paying millions of dollars to lawyers to defend our mark just doesn’t feel like the right thing to do.” Taco John CEO Jim Creel said in a statement.

The decision allows any restaurant to use Taco Tuesdays in 49 states. The only state it cannot be used is New Jersey because another business, Gregory’s Restaurant & Bar in Sommers Point, owns the trademark there.

The business co-owner, Gregory Gregory, said he will not hand over his trademark and was “shocked” that Taco John’s did, Reuters reported.