A woman filed a lawsuit Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court alleging theft of her product idea for use in a competing business. The product: cupcake sleeves.
You haven't clothed your cupcake in a decorative sleeve? Here's what you're missing.
The sleeves wrap around the base of the cupcake. Seventy plus designs are available, including "Couture Sleeves" for an elegant experience involving baked goods.
Back to the lawsuit. The fraud/misappropriation of trade secrets suit was filed by Sheri Mersola and her company, Moon Cherie, against Theresa Deliberto, manager of La Canada Flintridge-based Cupcake LLC.
According to the lawsuit, Mersola and Moon Cherie began marketing their cupcake sleeves under the name Roundabouts in 2009. In that same year, the name was registered as a trademark.
Deliberto was a former director of Moon Cherie who resigned and sold her stock in the company to Mersola in January 2010, according to the lawsuit.
That's where the sweet story turns sour.
According to the complaint, Deliberto has used customer lists, business methods and supplier information to advance her own company and sell cupcake sleeves under the name Cupcake Cuties in violation of her separation agreement with Mersola.
Mersola is asking for unspecified damages and an injunction preventing Deliberto from using the name Cupcake Cuties or any other name that could cause confusion with the plaintiff's product. She also wants a court order directing all wrappers and other items with the name Cupcake Cuties "be delivered up and destroyed."
