Mary
Cesar, the owner of Mary’s Cakes & Pastries in Northport, Alabama has
routinely placed a script letter “A” on cakes she designed for University of Alabama-sponsored functions.
But Cesar
recently received a formal cease and desist letter, demanding that she stop using
"trademarks, name, logos, colors, slogans, mascots and other indicia
associated with the University."
The
letter was sent by Collegiate Licensing Company in Atlanta, which has a
contract with UA to provide licensing services for the university's trademarked
items.
"If
UA sues us, it will put us out of business because we are a really small
mom-and-pop-type of business," she told the Associated Press.
Cesar
said her research indicated it would cost $750 to $3,000 to apply for a license
to use the trademarks, a fee she said wasn't justified by her small volume of bakery items.
Cesar
opened her bakery in Northport six years ago after moving to Alabama from
California. Her main business is custom-decorated cakes. The bakery also
makes pastries and cookies, including theme-shaped cookies that she varies
throughout the year. She reportedly started selling cookies shaped like elephants,
hats and footballs, particularly during the fall, beginning several years ago.
The hat
cookies had a light gray icing and squiggles like a houndstooth pattern,
invoking memories of Paul W. "Bear" Bryant, and she had another
cookie resembling Nick Saban's signature straw hat. The elephant and
football cookies often had a capital "A'' on them, making them popular
with many local football fans.
UA has a reputation for aggressively protecting its brands. But earlier
this year, a federal appeals court sided with Alabama artist Daniel Moore in a
trademark dispute involving UA. Moore is
known for original paintings with sports themes, including many paintings
depicting major moments in UA football games.
UA sued
Moore, claiming he infringed on the university's trademarks by showing
trademarked words and images in his paintings.
