AUNT JEMIMA DOCTRINE

Aunt Jemima doctrine.Trademarks. The principle that a trademark is protected not only from

use  on  a  directly  competing  product,  but  also  from  use  on  a  product  so  closely  related  in  the

marketplace that consumers would be confused into thinking that the products came from a single

source.Aunt Jemima Mills Co. v. Rigney & Co., 247 F. 407 (2d Cir. 1917); 15 USCA § 1114. • In

the  namesake case, the  name  used  on  pancake flour  was later used  on syrup.  The issue was  not

whether a competitor was trying to pass off goods, but whether it was fair to let the name’s second

user jeopardize the goodwill built up by the first user. See COMPLEMENTARY GOODS. [Cases:

Trade  Regulation    339,  341.  C.J.S. Trade-Marks, Trade-Names, and  Unfair  Competition  §§  81,

84, 86.][Blacks Law 8th]