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.]
