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8 November 2017Trademarks

Tea room Bettys forces small café to change scone name

Bettys, a famous UK tea room, has taken on a small café over the sale of a fruit scone called ‘Fat Rascals’.

Sandgate Coffee and Delights, a café based in Whitby, North Yorkshire, was asked by the tea room to change the name of its scone as it was infringing Bettys’ trademark for ‘Fat Rascal’, according to reports.

A spokesperson for Bettys said: “While the name Fat Rascal has some references in old literature, the idea of a plump fruity scone, topped with natural cherry eyes and split almond mouth was created by Bettys over 30 years ago.”

The origins of the Fat Rascal stem from an old Yorkshire speciality called a turf cake.

In a blog post, Bettys said that in 2013, it celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Bettys Fat Rascal, its “unique version of a traditional Yorkshire treat”.

Each scone is decorated with glacé cherries and almonds to create the “cheeky Fat Rascal ‘face’”, said Bettys.

Bettys owns UK trademark number 2,486,947 for ‘Fat Rascal’, covering class 30 (fruit scones). It also owns the mark ‘Yorkshire Fat Rascal’ under number 2,058,298 for the same class.

The spokesperson added: “It’s since become one of our best-selling specialities. We’re a family business and it’s important that we protect the name of our specialities for the future and on behalf of all those who love Bettys. It’s what any business has to do.”

According to the BBC, Helen Matos, owner of Sandgate, agreed to the request but believes the recipe predates the registrations.

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