Ok, so here’s the story. Ma’s Donuts in Middletown has a sent a a cease-and-desist letter to Ma’s Donuts in New Bedford warning the 5th generation family owned business to change their name.
Essentially what happened is this:
The New Bedford Ma’s Donuts opened in 1995 and was a staple of the community until 2016 when Sheila and Eddy Lemieux decided to close their doors.
Val and Pam Leite opened Ma’s Donuts in Middletown in 1993 and has become a staple of this community.
When Ma’s in New Bedford closed in 2016, Ma’s in Middletown filed a trademark on the Ma’s name.
In February of 2021, Sheila and Eddy Lemieux’s son Scott decided to reopen Ma’s New Bedford. Val and Pam Leite didn’t like that so much so o they fired off a cease and desist letter to the New Bedford location claiming trademark infringement.
Worthy of note. Ma’s Donuts in Middletown shut down briefly in February 2021 during the Covid pandemic.
We’ll let the principals make their cases here:
Basically Ma’s Donuts in New Bedford says that Ma’s Donuts in Middletown “took the liberty of trying to capitalize” on their brand when Ma’s New Bedford closed down.
“We’re going into our fifth generation of a family-owned business,” said Lemieux told SouthCoast Today. “And we have somebody from another state, trying to capitalize and ride on our coattails.”
Anyway it’s a mess and he’s a sampling of the social media reactions on Ma’s Donuts Middletown’s Facebook Page.
And if there’s anything we love to do as Americas, it’s a good old fashioned Facebook fight!
Anyway, have fun. The fights are glorious.
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