A two-year-old family company has been forced to change its name after finding a similar name had already been taken just weeks before it set up.
Hannah Huntly and Beth Cook launched Baker & Barista in Ipswich two years ago without knowing that contract catering company Elior UK, based at Staines-upon-Thames in Surrey, had already applied to trademark the name ‘Barista & Baker’.
In April, the sisters received a letter from a firm of patent and trademark attorneys acting for Elior asking them to stop using their original name on the grounds that it was too similar to the company’s protected trademark.
The sisters’ shop will close tomorrow (8 September) and reopen as Applaud Coffee on Thursday (10 September). Applaud Coffee is now registered as their own trademark to avoid similar problems.
Huntly told the Ipswich Star: “The change has required us to redesign and print our promotional material, and we will have new signage. We will be closed for one day while works take place.”
Cook added: “Although our name will change, nothing else will. Everything else will be the same; the same staff, products and service. Customers with Baker & Barista vouchers will be able to use them at Applaud Coffee.
“The coffee house has been a great success and we have had to increase the number of staff we employ to cope with demand. We take pride in serving quality coffee and are excited by the new name for our coffee house.”
A spokesperson from Elior UK said Huntly and Cook were given eight months to make the name change as it is a small company.
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