Tech juggernaut Apple is diverting some of its legal firepower from arch rivals Samsung to take on a rather less formidable foe – a family run café in Germany.

The fashionable firm is accusing the café, Apfelkind (Applechild), of mimicking its famous bitten Apple motif in a trademark application, an accusation strenuously denied by its proprietor, Christin Romer.

Romer's design sports a red apple with the silhouette of a child overlayed upon it, imagery which will appear on cups, cushions and sofas when it opens in May.

Speaking to the Telegraph Romer said: “When I first read the letter I didn't think it was true, but it was. When I created the logo I didn't think anything about Apple, and I think mine looks different to theirs. I love Apple products and use them a lot but you can see the logos are not the same.

"I plan to fight because I don't want them to stop me using my logo," she said. "Yes, I know they are big company with a lot of money but I'm a strong woman. I don't think Apple will stop me."