Why Taco Bell's free taco giveaway is happening everywhere but New Jersey

Taco Bell is opening a $5 million taco tab and offering free Doritos Locos Tacos in honor of the "liberation" of the "Taco Tuesday" trademark to customers across the country.

Well, almost everywhere.

The giveaway is valid in 49 states but not in New Jersey, the only place where the Taco Tuesday trademark is not canceled. Taco John's, the regional taco chain that had "Taco Tuesday" trademarked for 34 years, announced last month that it's ending its fight in defending the phrase against Taco Bell's lawyers.

But Gregory's Restaurant and Bar in Somers Point, New Jersey, owns the trademark in the state, and the family-owned business still plans to hold on to the phrase.

"We're still keeping it, we're fighting for it," said Emma Gregory, who said she is a fifth-generation Gregory family worker at the restaurant.

She said Taco Bell had reached out to the restaurant about the trademark "two, maybe three" weeks ago. Gregory's said on its website that it has been serving tacos on a Tuesday since 1979 and was granted a service trademark in 1982.

Taco Bell filed a petition in May with the US Patent and Trademark Office to cancel the trademark with its rival Taco John's. A battle over the phrase ensued, but Taco Bell eventually won out.