10 Trademark Cases About Yo Mama

Anna Jarvis led the efforts to establish the first official celebration of Mother's Day in 1908, during which she honored her own mother, Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis, a Civil War-era social activist. But about a dozen years after that first celebration, Anna Jarvis had become the holiday's most vocal opponent. Why? Commercialization. The floral and greeting card industries had already taken over her idea, converting sentimentality into sales. Jarvis, who never became a mother herself, is reported to have said:

A printed card means nothing except that you are too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone in the world. And candy! You take a box to Mother—and then eat most of it yourself. A pretty sentiment.

Of course, Jarvis lost her battle against the commodification of Mother's Day. Today, visual depictions of motherhood remain common commercial signifiers that are frequently used as trademarks. And use as trademarks means legal disputes over trademarks. In honor of Mother's Day, here are ten cases about maternal trademarks.

Mama Mia's Classic Pizza

Everyone reading this probably grew up somewhere in the vicinity of a pizza place named after someone else's mama. For me, it was Mama's Pizzeria in Bala Cynwyd, Pa., which I mention only because it sits right next to West Laurel Hill Cemetery, where both Anna Jarvis and her mother are buried. Anyway, when MAMA MIA'S CLASSIC PIZZA tried to register its name as a mark for restaurant services, the trademark examiner refused the registration on the ground that it closely resembled four other registered marks for food, including MAMA-MIA'S KITCHEN for pizza, MAMA MIA mozzarella, MAMA MIA Italian bread, and MAMA MIA! PASTA. The petitioner appealed, arguing that, because literally everyone and their mother used the term "Mama Mia" to indicate good Italian food, customers have been conditioned to look to the other elements of these marks as a means of distinguishing the source. Therefore, shared use of the phrase "Mama Mia" should not block its registration. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) agreed, and reversed the refusal. In re Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes, Inc., Serial No. 75/492,944 (Trademark Trial & App. Bd., March 7, 2001).

Mothers Against Drunk Driving

Founded in 1980, MOTHERS AGAINST DRUNK DRIVING, or MADD, is probably one of the most easily recognizable non-profit trademarks in the country. In 2002, MADD brought a trademark lawsuit against DADS AND MOMS AGAINST DRUG DEALERS, or DAMMADD, a New York organization founded in 2001. After failing to get jurisdiction over DAMMADD in MADD's home state of Texas, Mothers Against Drunk Driving v. DAMMADD, Inc., Case No. 3:02-cv-1712 (N.D. Tex. 2002)...