The Hutton Firm Takes on Taco Chon Infringement Case

(KNSI) — A Minneapolis law firm has agreed to take on the case filed against Taco Chon in St. Cloud.

National restaurant chain Taco John’s filed a lawsuit against Taco Chon and owner Juan Ramos, saying the businesses’ names are too similar, and Taco Chon has profited from using that name and causing customer confusion.

A statement from The Hutton Firm and Lee Hutton III says, “The Hutton Firm and Lee Hutton are delighted to announce that we have been retained to represent Taco Chon Mexican Grill against the lawsuit started by fast-food chain Taco John’s.

The Hutton Firm is highly interested in supporting the Hispanic community in Minnesota and we will zealously defend Juan Ramos and his right to pursue his American Dream.”

In a press release, they equate Taco John’s lawsuit as “a fight reminiscent of a schoolyard showdown between the classic bully and his easy target, Juan Ramos and his local Mexican grill Taco Chon.” Taco John’s net worth is estimated to be $106.8 million, with its top performing stores earning $1.57 million. Meanwhile, Ramos, a small business owner, opened his first store in Burnsville two years ago and the second location in St. Cloud in January of 2022 after working in his parents’ taco stand in the streets of Mexico in the 1980s.

Ramos told KNSI last month that he came to the United States because it’s the land of dreams, and he had a dream to open a taco shop like the one his parents had in Mexico. Then, in January, he said he was contacted by a representative of Taco John’s saying Taco Chon had to change its name and then threatened to shut them down.

He was upset by the threats and told them to do whatever they had to do, adding, “If you have to sue our place, just go ahead and do it. I’m not going to change our name because you call me and say, ‘hey, you have to change your name.'”

Ramos says Taco John’s is being a bully. “I don’t know how a big company, like they say they are, cares about two little stores. You know? It feels bad.”

The press release says stories of small businesses being pushed around by corporations are nothing new, “but they usually go unnoticed. Especially in communities of color. Our client is a Mexican immigrant who came to Minnesota to pursue opportunities and his dreams. His journey in America hasn’t been easy, but his pursuit of the American dream was his guiding light.”

Hutton says Ramos works hard to bring people traditional Mexican cuisine he experienced while growing up in Mexico and that Taco John’s features foods that do not come from traditional Mexican cuisine and accused them of cultural appropriation.

A GoFundMe has been started to help Ramos with attorney fees.

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