A Michelin-starred eatery in London has defended issuing a legal challenge to a new Harrogate bar and restaurant that forced it to give up the name Frog.

The Stray Ferret reported yesterday that Frog on King’s Road has changed its name to Lilypad after a challenge by the Adam Handling Restaurant Group, which owns the Frog trademark.

The news came as a personal blow to owners Charlie Moorby and Tom Moxham as they named the Harrogate bar and restaurant after their favourite amphibian.

It prompted a debate on social media about whether the legal challenge was fair.

Some felt the London-based business was well within its rights to protect its intellectual property but others thought that a business 200 miles away posed little threat and should be left alone.

Frog By Adam Handling Restaurant Covent Garden received its first Michelin star this year. Award-winning chef Adam Handling said he gave it that name because "frogs live in water, so they are either going to sink or swim".

A spokesperson for company sent us a statement that expressed some sympathy for the Harrogate restaurant but said the name Frog is "very valuable and important to us".

The Adam Handling Restaurant Group also owns three other restaurants and the spokesperson said some diners had incorrectly believed the chef had opened a new restaurant in Harrogate.

The spokesperson warned other fledgling businesses to undertake due diligence on intellectual property before opening.

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