Whose Ma Is It Anyway? MA, RI Donut Shops Battle Over Name Rights

MIDDLETOWN, RI — The battle of the Ma's has begun. Two doughnut shops — one on Aquidneck Island and the other in New Bedford, Massachusetts — are at odds over who has the rights to their name.

The owners of the New Bedford store call themselves the original Ma's. Opened in 1955, owners Sheila and Eddie decided to close their doors in 2016, the owners said in a post on Facebook. This February, the owners decided to reopen Ma's Donuts, only to discover that the Middletown coffee shop had "[taken] the liberty of trying to capitalize on the Ma's Donuts name and trademarking it after we shut down."

"Ma’s has been a staple of this community since 1955," the statement said. "We have loved serving this community every step of the way and are extremely grateful for all the love and support from our local community for all these years. We are working hard at bringing you back the classic, no gimmick donuts and coffee that you have all loved and grown up with."

The owners went on to say that they were "incredibly saddened by this unfortunate event, but we promise to stick to our roots and provide you all with the classic real donut shop taste, smell, and feel you all deserve."

Middletown fired right back, saying that their Ma's "has become a staple to the community."

"Family owned. Family operated. Serving families since the start. We are a small donut shop that could not be any more thankful for the local community supporting us for three decades," the owners said in a statement.

Ma's Middletown opened its doors in 1993.

"This small shop was called and still stand today as Ma’s Donuts and More," the owners said. "After 28 years, Ma’s Donuts is open 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week. We take pride in offering the freshest food and drinks we can."

In the end, Middletown won the day, since it holds the trademark to the name. Ma's New Bedford will reopen, though it will be under a different name.

"We are currently working on finding a name strong enough to represent the real Ma’s donuts we all love," New Bedford's statement said. "We promise this, name or no name, no one and we mean no one, will ever beat the taste and feel of our classic donuts."

Ma's Middletown, meanwhile, is open 24 hours per day, seven days per week.

"We welcome everyone to come check us out! I mean, really! We are here to stay, and we will not disappoint!" they said.