We all have brands that we love, Starbucks, Disney, NFL teams, Wii, etc and oftentimes grooms want to incorporate those brands into a groom’s cake. You see them done on TV all the time and you have probably run into at least one at a wedding or a birthday party.

The reality is that those companies have spent millions of dollars promoting their trademarks and copyrights and aren’t too happy when somebody else decides to make money off of them, like selling a cake that looks like a XBOX. And when I say “aren’t too happy” it means that these companies will actually take legal action against bakeries that sell cakes bearing their respective marks. Disney & Warner brothers are especially strict about trademark and copyright violations but any company or sports team that doesn’t give written permission to use their mark will likely take legal action to protect it.

So if you see them all the time, are they all infringement? Unfortunately, they usually are. Many bakeries will do a Disney themed cake, but not promote the fact they offer them and generally they don’t get caught. The penalties for the bakery can be severe which is why most bakeries refuse to create any cake that violates a copyright or trademark.  Usually the companies you see creating these cakes on TV have permission for the copyright or tyrademark holders.

The good news for grooms is that some of those companies want to make money off of cakes! Many companies have now created a range of cake specific decorations (including team logos edible images) that will allow you to incorporate their logo into certain cake designs legally. Most commercial bakeries have access to these items through distributors so if your chosen bakery says they can’t create an XBOX cake for you, make sure to ask that what other options may be available!

One last note: Colleges are usually great about giving permission to use their logos for groom’s cakes. They won’t grant the bakery carte blanche’ to use it anytime they want ,but I have yet to see a bride or groom turned down when asking a college about using their logo on a groom’s cake as part of their big day.

Happy planning!

We all have brands that we love, Starbucks, Disney, NFL teams, Wii, etc and oftentimes grooms want to incorporate those brands into a groom’s cake. You see them done on TV all the time and you have probably run into at least one at a wedding or a birthday party.

The reality is that those companies have spent millions of dollars promoting their trademarks and copyrights and aren’t too happy when somebody else decides to make money off of them, like selling a cake that looks like a XBOX. And when I say “aren’t too happy” it means that these companies will actually take legal action against bakeries that sell cakes bearing their respective marks. Disney & Warner brothers are especially strict about trademark and copyright violations but any company or sports team that doesn’t give written permission to use their mark will likely take legal action to protect it.

So if you see them all the time, are they all infringement? Unfortunately, they usually are. Many bakeries will do a Disney themed cake, but not promote the fact they offer them and generally they don’t get caught. The penalties for the bakery can be severe which is why most bakeries refuse to create any cake that violates a copyright or trademark.  Usually the companies you see creating these cakes on TV have permission for the copyright or tyrademark holders.

The good news for grooms is that some of those companies want to make money off of cakes! Many companies have now created a range of cake specific decorations (including team logos edible images) that will allow you to incorporate their logo into certain cake designs legally. Most commercial bakeries have access to these items through distributors so if your chosen bakery says they can’t create an XBOX cake for you, make sure to ask that what other options may be available!

One last note: Colleges are usually great about giving permission to use their logos for groom’s cakes. They won’t grant the bakery carte blanche’ to use it anytime they want ,but I have yet to see a bride or groom turned down when asking a college about using their logo on a groom’s cake as part of their big day.

Happy planning!