Cupcakes, the staple of classroom birthdays everywhere, have
become a huge phenomenon with adults and children alike. Cashing in
on the current cupcake craze, cupcake-only bakeries have been
springing up around the nation. Sprinkles Cupcakes of Beverly
Hills, which touts itself as "The Original Cupcake
Bakery," is turning up the heat on a new batch of
copy-cupcakeries. In a climate where branding is vital to
increasing client base and protecting marketplace reputation,
Sprinkles Cupcakes has trademarked its name as well as its
distinctive "modern dot" motif. Armed with these
trademarks, Sprinkles has launched a campaign against those
companies it sees as eating into its business and potentially
creating brand confusion. In a not-so-sweet move, Sprinkles filed
multiple lawsuits in the past year, and sent numerous takedown
letters to competitors it sees as treading on its trademarks.
