For as good as LeBron James is on the court, he has also been nearly just as good with his business and brand off it.
James has a number of business ventures already and has spoken about his desire to own a team. This summer, he tried to add to his brand with a viral social media sensation.
James began posting social media videos celebrating his ‘Taco Tuesday’ nights with his family and friends. The videos quickly began to gain steam as him yelling the phrase and getting his whole family involved was entertaining. His oldest son Bronny James even posted some videos of his own doing the call.
Being the businessman that he is, James looked to take advantage of this by applying for a trademark to the ‘Taco Tuesday’ phrase. Unfortunately for James, that application was denied by the USPTO, according to Josh Gerben of the Gerben Law Firm:
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
As Gerben explained in the video, the main reason for the trademark being denied is the distinction of ‘Taco Tuesday’ as a commonplace message. In other words, the fact that so many people, places, and companies use the term Taco Tuesday to describe something that it can’t be trademarked.
The ruling makes sense and is something that many pointed to as being likely because of this exact reason. Restaurants and bars all across the country have some sort of Taco Tuesday specials so it being trademarked by one company always seemed unlikely.
Even still, James was simply doing his due diligence as a businessman. When something catches on the way that did, it’s logical that the next step would be to take advantage of it.
James may not have been successful this time, but that mindset is why his businesses are flourishing the way they are.