In 2019, Los Angeles Lakers‘ LeBron James filed to trademark the phrase “Taco Tuesday” with the US Patent and Trademark Office. He was denied the trademark, although fast forward to 2023, and he might be able to use it freely again. On Tuesday, the fast food chain Taco Bell filed to release the trademark from another chain, Taco Johns. While LeBron was not able to coerce “Taco Tuesday” from the government's grasp, Taco Bell might be able to do the job, reports CNN's Jordan Valinsky.

The “Taco Tuesday” craze instigated by LeBron James is not running as rampant as it did back in the day, although is still a very commonly used phrase. That is the primary reason James tried to trademark it in the first place; albeit Taco Johns owning the rights to the phrase, the US Patent and Trademark Office deemed the phrase too common to trademark, as Taco Johns pretty much already lost the battle for its rights in the public sphere.

Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see if Taco Bell has more success than LeBron, as it might reenergize his efforts to try and brand the phrase for some personal promotional reasoning. Obviously, James and the Lakers have bigger fish to fry as of right now, being down 1-0 in the Western Conference Finals to the Denver Nuggets. Coincidentally enough, the Lakers lost game 1 on “Taco Tuesday.”

After the loss on Tuesday, it would be no surprise if James went home and enjoyed some tacos given the day of the week. Even if the Lakers lose this series, LeBron James will still be able to look forward to “Taco Tuesday” potentially being free.