Winfrey, insurer fight over ‘aha’

Mutual of Omaha is suing Oprah Winfrey over rights to the phrase “aha moment.”

The insurer said it began using the slogan “official sponsor of the aha moment” in its advertising in February. But in a letter Tuesday to Mutual of Omaha, Marc Rachman, an attorney for Winfrey’s production company, Harpo Productions Inc., demanded the insurer stop using the phrase.

Rachman said “Aha! Moment” was a signature phrase “synonymous in the public’s mind with Ms. Winfrey.”

Mutual sued the next day in federal court in Omaha seeking a declaration allowing it to use the slogan.

A spokeswoman for Harpo, Lisa Halliday, said the company hoped to reach an amicable resolution with Mutual.