A small Surrey teashop is planning a celebratory tea party after seeing off a German multinational which tried to force it to change its teapot logo.

The Tea Box opened in Richmond in October 2007 to provide an upmarket alternative to the high street coffee stores springing up around the town. Two months later, however, its owners received news of the legal challenge from the German tea manufacturer Teekanne.

Teekanne - which means 'teapot' in German - said that the handpainted teapot logo used by The Tea Box was too similar to its own logo and could confuse customers.

Jemma Swallow, who owns and runs the shop with her partner, Mike de Souza, disagreed and decided to take a stand against the Duesseldorf-based company, which has 1,300 staff in eight countries, even though defeat could cost them thousands.

After a local newspaper story was picked up in the national press, they were offered "pro bono" help from the the intellectual property firm Withers & Rogers LLP, whose trade mark experts helped them contest the challenge.

Now, after receiving an early indication from the UK Intellectual Property Office that it would be likely to find in favour of The Tea Box, the German business has decided not to proceed with its opposition to the application.

Ms Swallow said today that she was "over the moon" at the decision after more than a year of worrying about legal costs and the prospect of having to rebrand the business.

She also accused Teekanne of trying to use its muscle to impose its will on young companies without the financial strength to defend themselves.

"I think they've got away with it for years and years, targeting small companies before they have the money to fight a challenge," she told Times Online.

"We get a lot of tourists in Richmond, lots of international customers and the German customers we ask have all heard of Teekanne and they didn't think our logo was anything like theirs. They weren't confused."

Ms Swallow, who admits that her battle was drawn into wider Anglo-German rivalry, is busy planning a "victory tea party" and to print new menus and leaflets delayed by the row.

"The silver lining is that it will have helped brand awareness," she added. "It's probably had the opposite effect that Teekanne wanted."

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