May 9, 2021
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (
WBZ NewsRadio) Two donut shops along the South Coast are battling after a trademark dispute not over a secret recipe, but rather, over a name. Ma s Donuts of New Bedford had been around for 61 years when its owners, the Lemieux family, decided to close down in 2016. Upon taking the steps to reopen in February, the family said it discovered that the trademark for their name had already been taken by a Middletown, Rhode Island business.
A search of the U.S. Trademark database confirmed that Ma s Donuts and more had been bought in 2017 by Leite Donuts, Inc.
NEW BEDFORD Owners of a beloved 66-year-old donut shop are facing legal issues amid plans to reopen its historic bakery, Ma’s Donuts.
“It’s just heartbreaking. It’s our family’s legacy,” said Scott Lemieux, owner of The Boat Restaurant in New Bedford. Lemieux, son of former Ma’s Donuts owners, Sheila and Eddie Lemieux, has been working with his wife and daughter to reopen Ma’s Donuts since it closed in 2016.
“We re going into our fifth generation of a family-owned business,” said Lemieux. “And we have somebody from another state, trying to capitalize and ride on our coattails.”
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