Fort Collins Restaurant Forced By National Chain to Change Name
A well established Fort Collins restaurant is being forced to change the name of their establishment after a national chain said the similarities could cause confusion.
According to the Coloradoan, a settlement has occurred between locally owned Dam Good Tacos and Austin, Texas based Torchy's Taco's concerning the use of the phrase "Dam Good Tacos".
Torchy's uses "Damn Good Tacos" as their slogan and even though their is a slight difference between the name of the Fort Collins based restaurant and the tagline, it was enough for the chain to file a complaint back in April.
The agreement between the two entities will see Dam Good Tacos change their name over the next few months. That name still hasn't been decided.
Torchy's argued that they filed the trademark four years before Dam Good Tacos opened their first location, which is why they not only asked for monetary damages but also the website address and social media links of the Fort Collins restaurant.
Now here's my opinion on all of this...
If anyone was confused by the similarity between the NAME of one restaurant the the TAGLINE of another, you have too much time on your hands. And for Torchy's Tacos to think that people associated Torchy's with DAM GOOD TACOS (whose name I will always call that), it may be the biggest waste of their time.
Yes. It looks like they won. But that's because they are a national chain with plenty of money to throw around going against a local restaurant who counts on the local residents and college students to visit them each day and week. If I was Dam Good Tacos, I would've done the same thing. With how much the court case would've cost, it didn't make sense to continue on.
However, my hope is that this makes the entire Fort Collins community look at Torchy's in a different light. The Northern Colorado area is a tight community, and now the "big, bad corporate" side has gotten in the way of that.
I can tell you that I will continue to give my dollars to Dam Good Tacos as long as I can, and I hope you will now more than ever.
Dear Torchy's Tacos...one more thing. There is no way confusion could've been set in between you and our local favorite. Your food doesn't even come close to the product that Dam Good Tacos puts out on a daily basis, and many people in Fort Collins would agree with me.
I think that closes the case and is more of a moral victory than what you walked away with.