Trademark dispute forces Harrogate wine bar name change

A TRADEMARK challenge from a major bar group has forced a Harrogate wine bar, companion to newly-opened Restaurant 92, to change its name.

Newly-opened wine bar The Optimist, now called Bacchus Wine Bar, was forced to change its name by former Living Ventures business New World Trading Company.

In June, New World was sold to Graphite Capital for £50m. It is behind The Botanist brand which has sites in York and Leeds.

New World reportedly owned the trademark to the name, despite wine bar owner Ian Humphreys registering the company and acquiring domain names for the Optimist, located on Station parade in Harrogate.

He was hit by a trademark challenge from the rival bar chain.

Mr Humphreys said: “This has been a lesson. We had understood you could not trademark a name like ‘optimist’ – the classic was Posh Spice who tried to trademark ‘Posh’ and was rejected because it is a general word in the English language.

“We bought the domain names, built our concept and developed the wine bar over the course of 2015. However, within three months of opening, we received a letter advising us that a rival company had applied for and been granted a trademark for the Optimist.

“We have taken legal advice and there is nothing clear cut about this. Rather than waste time fighting to overturn the trademark – potential legal bills would have been circa £40,000 – we have taken a pragmatic decision to rename as “Bacchus” after the god of wine.”

To celebrate the rebirth, Bacchus wine bar has teamed up with Restaurant 92 to create a “Spanish wine evening” to be held on Tuesday, August 23.

Mr Humphreys finished: “Customers like the new name. Mostly they like what we offer, an unrivalled experience.”