Trade Mark Dispute is Brewing for Cornerstone Inns CIC and Greene King

A small pub group based in Cheshire is considering going head-to-head with Greene King, one of the largest pub companies and brewers in Britain, over an attempt by the latter to block its trade mark application.

Incorporated in 2017, Cornerstone Inns CIC is a social enterprise, which owns and operates four community-run pubs in the Weaver Valley area of Cheshire. The CIC applied to register as a trade mark its brand name CORNERSTONE INNS at the UK Intellectual Property Office in January 2026.

Greene King has since lodged an opposition at the UKIPO, however, and is looking to block the trade mark application. Whilst the reasons for the opposition are not made public, Greene King recently launched a sub-brand known as Cornerstone Pubs and filed word and logo trade mark applications for CORNERSTONE PUBS at the UKIPO in October 2025.

Mark Caddle, partner and trade mark attorney at European IP firm, Withers & Rogers, said: “This is a classic case of David and Goliath, but in this case, Cornerstone Inns CIC’s attempt to register its company name as a trade mark has come a bit late in the day.

“Even though Cornerstone Inns CIC has been operating under its company name for many years, it didn’t think to file a trade mark application for CORNERSTONE until January this year. On the other hand, Greene King filed trade mark applications for CORNERSTONE PUBS a year ago. The fact that Greene King’s registrations predate the filing attempt by Cornerstone Inns CIC means its opposition may well succeed.”

Responding to the opposition, Cornerstone Inns CIC has filed a formal defence with the UKIPO. It has also reached out to Greene King to suggest a ‘coexistence agreement’, which if agreeable to both parties, would allow both brands to coexist in the market and on the trade mark register.

Mark Caddle added: “If Cornerstone Inns CIC wished to do so, it could potentially seek to invalidate Greene Kings’s trade mark registrations on the basis of prior use – as it claims to have a trading history dating back to 2012 (well before Greene King’s trade mark registrations were filed in 2025).

“However, mounting a legal challenge on the basis of prior use, without a trade mark registration to back it up, could be challenging and costly to evidence. A much easier solution would be to secure a coexistence agreement.

“Greene King would be unlikely to give way to this type of legal challenge from a much smaller operator anyway, particularly as it holds a strong hand in terms of registered IP rights ownership.”