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.
Mitchells & Butlers is a FTSE 250 company, with revenues of £1.5bn in the first half of the year, more than 1,800 venues and more than 44,000 employees, compared with the 14 employed by the Coffee Studio in its two branches in Greenwich and Battersea.
Mehmet, who cofounded the Coffee Studio in 2024, said it was daunting to be in the opposite corner to the hospitality behemoth, but he is determined to fight it with the help of the law firm Trade Mark Wizards, which counts the Apprentice host, Alan Sugar, as a director.
“When you’re independent, you feel every decision in a way a big company never has to. They have legal teams and budgets built for this,” said Mehmet. “We have a coffee business we’ve poured everything into. So yes, there are moments it feels like standing in front of something far bigger than you, wondering whether you’re mad even to try.
“But there’s another feeling underneath that one, and it’s stronger: we’re in the right.
“If three simple words can be contested, what does that mean for every independent trying to build something of their own? We don’t have a giant’s resources, but we have a community behind us and a clear conscience case we believe in. We’d rather stand up and be counted than step aside and be forgotten.
“This isn’t just our fight; it’s one for every small business that deserves a fair chance.”
He said the dispute, which if not settled could take two years to reach the intellectual property office tribunal given the backlog, has already delayed merchandise plans, signage design and printing, menu reprints and business expansion while resources are diverted towards legal costs.
Mitchells & Butlers has an Eat Drink Meet website and app, which acts as a restaurant and pub guide.
The Coffee Studio intends to file its defence to Old Kentucky Restaurants – the subsidiary that opposed its application – this month.
Lord Sugar said: “Small businesses should be able to build their brands without feeling intimidated by the resources of much larger organisations that throw their weight around.
“Trademark law exists to protect genuine brands and innovation. It should not create an environment where independent businesses feel pressured into abandoning ideas.”
Oliver Oguz, managing director of Trade Mark Wizards, said: “Our client created the phrase ‘Eat Drink Work’ to describe what people do every day in modern cafes and flexible working spaces. These are ordinary English words used in an ordinary way.
“We believe this case raises important questions about where legitimate brand protection ends and where overly aggressive enforcement begins.”
Mitchells & Butlers declined to comment.
