When Tahir Mehmet, the owner of an independent coffee shop, tried to register “three simple words”, Eat Drink Work, as its slogan, he had little idea it would pitch him into a legal battle with one of the UK’s largest hospitality groups.
The application in relation to the Coffee Studio, which has two London cafes, has been opposed by a subsidiary of Mitchells & Butlers, whose brands include Toby Carvery, Harvester, All Bar One and O’Neill’s, which says it is too similar to its Eat Drink Meet trademark.
