Two Pesos, Inc. v. Taco Cabana, Inc.’s Empirical Analysis
1992
Citation profile
640 federal appellate · 485 district · 85 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 3,036 later decisions (12 by the Supreme Court) — most recently March 2025 · most notably Chambers v. Time Warner, Inc. (2002), Qualitex Co. v. Jacobson Products Co. (1995)
640 federal appellate · 485 district · 85 state decisions — followed in 20 states
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Appellate journey
reviewedTaco Cabana International, Inc. v. Two Pesos, Inc. (from Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Applies 15 U.S.C. § 1052 (§ 2 of the Trademark Act of 1946 (Lanham Act)) · 15 U.S.C. § 1114 (§ 32 of the Trademark Act of 1946 (Lanham Act)) · 15 U.S.C. § 1121 (§ 39 of the Trademark Act of 1946 (Lanham Act)) · 15 U.S.C. § 1125 (§ 43 of the Trademark Act of 1946 (Lanham Act)) · 15 U.S.C. § 1127 (§ 45 of the Trademark Act of 1946 (Lanham Act))
Relies on United States v. Turkette · Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission · Inwood Laboratories, Inc. v. Ives Laboratories, Inc. · National Labor Relations Board v. Bell Aerospace Co.
Cited together with Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. · Inwood Laboratories, Inc. v. Ives Laboratories, Inc. · Celotex Corporation v. Catrett H · Qualitex Co. v. Jacobson Products Co. · Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Samara Brothers, Inc.
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 3,036 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“the general principles qualifying a mark for registration under § 2 of the Lanham Act are for the most part applicable in determining whether an unregistered mark is entitled to protection under § 43(a).”
206 later decisions quote this exact passage“'Trade dress' involves the total image of a product, and may include features such as size, shape, color or color combinations, texture, graphics, or even particular sales techniques.”
16 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“Secondary meaning is used generally to indicate that a mark or dress has come through use to be uniquely associated with a specific source. To establish secondary meaning, a manufacturer must show that, in the minds of the public, the primary significance of a product feature or term is to identify the source of the product rather than the product itself.”
14 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.