Mother Teresa trademark to be enforced ‘severely’, says lawyer

A lawyer acting for a religious order set up by the late Mother Teresa has reportedly said a trademark granted for her famous sari will be enforced “severely”.

Biswajit Sarkar, who filed the trademark in India on behalf of the Missionaries of Charity, told British newspaper The Guardian that legal action will be taken against unauthorised use of the white and blue striped design, even use by charitable enterprises.

“There are many organisations starting schools naming themselves after Mother Teresa, and wearing the uniform, where the Missionaries of Charity have no connection,” he said.

The trademark was granted in 2016, three years after it was applied for. Mother Teresa’s name is already protected by a trademark.

Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950 in Calcutta, India, to care for poverty-stricken and sick people, among others. Today there are hundreds of branches around the world and sisters working for the organisation receive the blue and white striped sari after four years’ service.

According to motherteresa.org, white stands for truth and purity, while the three blue borders each signify the vows that the nuns of the order take: poverty, obedience, and chastity and wholehearted free service to the “poorest of the poor”.

Sarkar told The Guardian that whether use is for commercial gain “is not the issue” and that “if the blue pattern, which is unique in the world, is diluted or used by the public, then one fine morning the organisation will lose their identity”.

He promised to take “severe” legal action “if anybody is misrepresenting the Missionaries of Charity”.

Born in Albania in 1910, Mother Teresa was a Roman Catholic nun and missionary, and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. She was canonised in 2016 and died in 1997.

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