MoMA Sues Lower East Side Cafe

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — The Museum of Modern Art is suing a new Lower East Side cafe, alleging that the combination coffee shop and art gallery has infringed on the historic museum's trademark by calling itself MoMaCha.

MoMaCha, located at 314 Bowery, opened in April offering intricately designed food and drinks, plus a display area for art.

The MoMA, as Manhattan's famous art museum is known, says the cafe is knowingly using the museum's name recognition to try and cash in on its reputation. Representatives for MoMA, whose main branch is located at 11 W. 53rd St., filed a lawsuit against MoMaCha on Tuesday after first sending them a letter in March asking the cafe to change their name, Law360 was first to report.

The museum said the cafe's intent was clear because "there is no possibility that they were not aware of MoMA or its famous MOMA mark prior to starting their business earlier this month," according to the lawsuit. "They are blatantly attempting to take advantage of the MOMA Marks, which are unquestionably famous within the modern and contemporary art space, to promote their newly launched art gallery and cafe business."

The museum said both the cafe's name and logo were similar to the Museum of Modern Art.

"Our name comes from the innate desire to create and consume: to have more," representatives of the cafe said in a statement. "'Mo' has become default slang for "more," and that’s really the origin of our name...MoMaCha is not here to compete with the Museum of Modern Art on any level. We’re a matcha cafe with a creative side, just like many coffee shops."

The neighborhood blog Bedford & Bowery previously wrote that the cafe would feature a rotating selection of art along with creatively made desserts and intricate latte art.

The MoMA is asking a judge to force MoMaCha to stop using its current name, and cover the cost of the MoMa's damages plus the expenses of the lawsuit, and restitution money including the cafe's profits.

This post has been updated with comment from MoMaCha.

Primary image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images; secondary image credit: Museum of Modern Art