Frog restaurant, Harrogate changes name after legal challenge by The Frog by Adam Handling

Frog restaurant in Harrogate changes its name to Lillypad after a legal challenge from the Adam Handling Restaurant Group over the name.

The owners of the restaurant, Charlie Moorby and Tom Moxham, announced the name change in an Instagram post where they explained that the name Frog had been chosen because of Charlie's family history in ‘The Frog & Forget-me-not’ in London.

The post said they had chosen the name because they were carrying forward the ethos of a "local, relaxed, vibrant, family-friendly and quirky Bar & Restaurant that truly showed it cared for its guests and staff is always at the heart of what we hope to achieve as a business." 

 

 

 

 

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The post added that because of a legal challenge from "a Michelin Star restaurant based in London that is also named ‘FROG’" they were unable to retain the name frog and any attempt to keep the name 'frog' would have been subject to approval from the Adam Handling LTD legal team.

This was not an option for the Harrogate restaurant as they explained: "Anyone who knows us, knows that we always strive to remain fiercely independent and as such the idea of our name being approved by an outside party wasn’t something we were willing to entertain. Please know this was not an easy decision, as it means we lose a name that has been part of our DNA for generations and had a deep affection from all of us working here."

The post finishes by announcing the restaurant's new name Lilypad, inspired by the Lilypad lager sold at the restaurant.

The post also makes it clear that nothing else about the restaurant will be changing.

The post closes with "All that is left to say is FROG is dead, Long live FROG, and a very warm welcome to LILYPAD!"

This is not the first time The Adam Handling Restaurant Group (AHRG) has set a legal challenge against a restaurant over its name.

In July the Frog Bakery was issued a cease and desist over its name, which led to a name change. 

When asked to comment about the name change, The AHRG gave us a statement, which said: "The Adam Handling Restaurant Group has been in touch with Frog Harrogate because its choice of name conflicts with our earlier rights and has caused confusion amongst many of our diners and within the hospitality industry, as they thought that we had opened a new restaurant in Harrogate. The directors of Frog Harrogate have responded and we anticipate resolving matters amicably soon."

They also explained that: "Our Frog name is very valuable and important to us, to our existing restaurant group and to our expansion plans. We have no choice but to protect it from both deliberate and accidental conflicts. If you don't protect and enforce your trademark against these types of conflicts, you become exposed and could lose your rights. We appreciate that these conflicts can be accidental but, in this instance, Frog Harrogate have advised that they were actually aware of our name. We urge new business owners to conduct the relevant due diligence through the IPO website as unfortunate situations like this can become costly for both parties.”