A federal prisoner housed in Arizona claims he came up with the idea for Doritos Locos Tacos and is suing Taco Bell over the matter.
The Dallas Observer reported that Gary Cole, who is serving out a 25-year prison sentence for a number of charges, filed a lawsuit at a federal court in Dallas on Wednesday. He alleges that Yum Brands, Frito Lay, and Pepsi stole his idea for the tacos, which use Doritos as a shell.
Cole included a notarized document that he mailed to his attorney in 2006 as proof, which lists “Tacos (sic) shells of all flavors (made of Doritos),” according to the paper.
Cole alleges that Taco Bell stole the idea via the mail. Before he filed a lawsuit, Cole contacted the Internal Revenue Service and the FBI. He also attempted to get the help of Denver-based law firm before he filed the suit but it appears he is representing himself, according to the Observer.
In a response letter, the law firm told Cole: “Do not ‘put a knife’ to the staff. That won’t do you, or us, any good. I understand your frustration, but we’re working on the retaliation issue and would ask that you leave it in our hands,” according to the Observer.
Food Beast reported that Taco Bell has sold more than 500 million of the tacos, meaning more than 1.1 million of the items are being sold every day. The tacos were introduced on March 8.
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