Dogfight: Supreme Court won't hear copyright battle over Taco Bell Chihuahua
By Anne Gearan, Associated Press, 01/22/02
WASHINGTON Taco Bell and its famous talking Chihuahua lost a dogfight at
the Supreme Court Tuesday.
The court, without comment, declined to get involved in a copyright battle
over who came up with the idea for the fast-food chain spokesdog.
Taco Bell had urged the court to throw out claims by two Michigan men that
the Mexican food restaurants stole their idea for a talking Chihuahua.
In a rare bit of whimsy amid the dry claims of copyright law, Taco Bell's
lawyer, veteran Supreme Court litigator Carter Phillips, began his legal brief
by noting, "This is a tale of two dogs."
The Michigan men claim they pitched the idea of using a cartoon Chihuahua to
sell Taco Bell food more than a year before the company began airing its dog ads
in 1997.
The Taco Bell ads, since discontinued, featured a real Chihuahua who appeared
to say in Spanish, "Yo quiero Taco Bell," or, "I want Taco Bell." The ad
campaign became wildly popular, with spinoff stuffed toys, T-shirts and other
products.
Joseph Shields and Thomas Rinks allege Taco Bell advertising executives stole
their idea for a character called "Psycho Chihuahua" after making a verbal
agreement to use the men's design.
Taco Bell claims the company decided to use a talking dog only after
TBWA/Chiat Day, a much larger advertising company, proposed it independently.
The men sued under state law in 1998, alleging Taco Bell breached its
contract and wrongly made money from the ad campaign. A federal judge dismissed
the case the following year after finding that federal copyright law trumped
those state law claims.
A federal appeals court reversed that decision last year, and reinstated the
case.
Taco Bell then appealed to the Supreme Court.
Taco Bell owns or franchises thousands of Mexican-style restaurants worldwide
from its base in Irvine, Calif. The company is a subsidiary of Tricon Global
Restaurants, Inc., which also owns Pizza Hut and Kentucky Fried Chicken.
The case is Taco Bell Corp. v. Wrench LLC, 01-701.
