You could call it a generational dispute.
The creators of the Call Your Mother concept in Washington, D.C., this week filed a lawsuit alleging trademark violation by a New Jersey deli named Call Your Bubbi.
The term Bubbi, of course, is a Yiddish word for grandmother.
In the lawsuit, filed on Nov. 18 in U.S. District Court in New Jersey, the founders of Call Your Mother Corp. argue that the terms “mother” and “bubbi” both denote a caring and nurturing Jewish matriarch.”
Both marks also evoke the same core idea of a “warm and loving (but somewhat instructive or scolding) prompt to call your mother or grandmother, and to grab some coffee and bagels while you are at it,” the lawsuit said.
Both concepts serve bagels and have a similar circular logo, which consumers would likely find confusing, the lawsuit alleges.
Call Your Mother was founded by Andrew Dana and Daniela Moreira in 2018 and now has about 18 units in the greater D.C. area, but also Colorado. According to the lawsuit, the brand is also moving to Florida soon.
Earlier this year, the bagel café announced a strategic investment from Invus, an arm of the global firm Artal.
The single-unit Call Your Bubbi debuted last year and is owned by David Mizrahi, a partner in the parent company Bubbies Bagels LLC, based in Long Branch, N.J., according to court documents.
Call Your Mother sent a cease-and-desist letter to Call Your Bubbi in August, but Call Your Bubbi did not respond to the letter or other attempts to reach Mizrahi, according to the filing. A court summons urging a response was issued the same day the lawsuit was filed.
Officials with Call Your Bubbi did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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