In a cross-country food-fight that perhaps could only be concocted between Fairfield County and Beverly Hills, a California cupcake company is suing the Fairfield-based “cupcake boutique” Pink Sprinkles L.L.C. over trademark infringement.
The lawsuit, reported last month by the Associated Press, was filed even as standalone cupcake shops ”“ not to mention a few trucks ”“ pop up on main streets throughout Fairfield County and Connecticut, reminiscent of the bagel shop craze of the 1990s and the more recent trend of smoothie shops.
Sprinkles Cupcakes Inc., which touts itself as “the original cupcake bakery,” has a New York City location but has yet to open any stores in Connecticut.
Still, in its lawsuit the company states it is has been selling cupcakes at Williams-Sonoma stores in Westport, Stamford and Danbury, which it says is sufficient grounds to lay the case that consumers could become confused by Pink Sprinkles”™ storefront on “the brick promenade” in Fairfield.
Sprinkles Cupcakes is throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Pink Sprinkles, accusing the startup of trademark infringement and violations of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices and the Anti-cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act.
Diane Mercado launched Pink Sprinkles two years ago, having first learned cake decorating at Pacelli”™s Bakery in Bridgeport and later studying the craft under Colette Peters, a winner of Food Network”™s “mystery cake” challenge. Pink Sprinkles has evolved into a true family business, with her son Joseph joining after graduating from the University of Virginia; daughter Kiely making deliveries and scouting recipes; and son Danniel managing Pink Sprinkles”™ Facebook account.
The shop also sells traditional cakes.
Thanks to a proliferation of TV shows, including “Ace of Cakes,” “Cake Boss” and “Wedding Cake Wars,” the art and business of the craft have never seemed more accessible ”“ not to mention ultra-competitive.
That has helped crack the oven door for a baker”™s dozen other specialty shops and caterers in Connecticut, including Pink Sprinkles; Crumbs locations in Greenwich, New Canaan, Stamford and Westport; Batter Up! Cupcakes in Stamford; In the Mix Cupcakes in Newtown; Izzy B”™s Allergen-Free Cupcakes in Norwalk; and Toppings in Bridgeport, among others.
Toppings is the sister store to The Cupcake Truck, which for three years had trundled to locations throughout the New Haven area, while providing an advance on the truck”™s daily destination on a website dubbed FollowThatCupcake.com.
In New York City, Rachel Kramer Bussel and Nichelle Stephens follow the industry themselves on website and blog called Cupcakes Take the Cake. In a mid-July post addressing the lawsuit, the bloggers noted that Sprinkles has successfully sued other bakeries that have used the word “sprinkles” in their name.
Sprinkles Cupcakes has demonstrated to date that it wields a mean spatula when it comes to media coverage, spreading it on thick on shows like “Martha Stewart,” “Regis and Kelly,” and “Today” among others.
In its particularly local flavor of “cake wars,” however, it has left a bad taste in the mouths of at least a few local patrons of Pink Sprinkles. At deadline, Mercado had yet to detail her answer in court, and she did not respond to a request for comment, nor addressed the lawsuit on Pink Sprinkles”™ Facebook account.
Others did, however.
“I can”™t wait for them to sue the confection companies to change the names of those thingies that you put on top of ice cream,” wrote one fan of the shop. “What do you call them again? Oh yeah ”“ sprinkles.”
