After operating for the past 66 years as Ma s Donuts and Coffee Shop, the New Bedford icon must now change its name or face a lawsuit filed against them by another donut shop in Rhode Island for trademark infringement.
The news became public at 4 p.m. on Thursday after the owners of the New Bedford shop took to Facebook to share the situation and reach out to the public to help come up with a new name for the beloved institution. It is with heartfelt sadness that we have to announce the changing of the name for Ma’s Donuts. We have been informed of a potential trademark infringement from a Rhode Island-based donut shop, who took the liberty of trying to capitalize on the Ma’s Donuts name and trademarking it after we shut down, they wrote.
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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