Not with tacos! After the news was released, internet users began to complain to Taquería UK.
Saltillo, September 17 (Vanguard).- Michelle Salazar Start a business to survive economic crisis faced with her husband Sam Napier in United Kingdom; however, the Mexican did not imagine that her small business of tacos in flour tortillas I would suffer a lawsuit for only using the descriptive word of a place where they sell these dishes: “taquería”.
Salazar and Napier might lose their savings in a legal battle that seeks to defend the descriptive use of the word “taquería” once morest the company Worldwide Taquería, whose commercial name is Taquería UK.
The company founded by the British Trent Alexander Ward and Daniele Benatoff has two restaurants in London: in Notting Hill since 2005 and Exmouth Market since April 2021; Despite its exclusive and central locations, they allege that the use of the term by the restaurant Sonora Taqueria (Michelle Salazar’s company) constitutes trademark infringement.
Although Sonora Taquería is a small business in a public park, it is looking to expand and reach more people, so it had to close to start in another location.
According to Michelle, the idea arose when she traveled to the United Kingdom to study at university and when trying to find a job it was difficult for her due to work visa procedures, so she had to find other ways and opted for an entrepreneurial graduate program. that by proposal, the university sponsored a two-year visa.
Her proposal was a food business, at that time it was Pollo Feliz, a roast chicken franchise founded by her family, in small events and with the help of her husband (at the time, boyfriend). However, due to inexperience and starting five weeks before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK, the business failed and they were left without resources.
But a specific product saved them: the flour tortilla; they added them to the chickens and they caught the attention of the customers, so they continued to generate money by selling packages. When the businesses opened, they opted to make Sonora-style tacos at an open-air market, along with the changes, the fame of the business grew.
Grilled meat tacos, barbecue, marinated, cakes, quesadillas, tortilla chips, aguachiles and micheladas are the sensation among the English; Michelle explained for The Guardian that “there is a lot of interest in Mexican food! People love it and they are just discovering the variety in our food, the regions, the difference between tortillas.”
Although “the wind in the sail” went down when on September 8 of this year the couple received a “cease and desist” letter to eliminate the word “Taquería” from their business, along with their social networks, page weblogo, brand registration, , among others.
The letter explained that the “Taquería” company had had a trademark registration for more than 15 years in the United Kingdom. To which Salazar and Napier uploaded the document to their Instagram, mentioning that they would have to change the name and hoping that a client might legally support them.
Said lawsuit has created problems for them to pay for legal defense and they cannot generate more income because they closed the premises to look for a bigger one. So they will have to choose between renting a new restaurant or paying lawyers, where their savings would go.
Mexicans and English, both in person and on social networks such as Twitter, have supported the small business, turning the event into an ethical and moral discussion, even absurd; The couple will seek to appeal and try to remove the trademark registration, arguing that “taquería” is a descriptive word and does not specify why it cannot be registered.
