GUINNESS
Guinness secured its UK trademark registration for the iconic Harp device in April 1876 and the GUINNESS word mark in March 1889. The brand was founded by Arthur Guinness in Dublin in 1759, and its UK presence dates to the early nineteenth century. The Guinness Book of Records, launched in 1955 as a promotional initiative, became a global publishing phenomenon and itself a valuable trademark property.
UK IPO Record
Trademark Classification
Nice Class 32 covers beverages. View all Class 32 trademarks and case studies →
Brand History & Trademark Analysis
Guinness holds one of the earliest UK trademark registrations in the beverage industry. The harp device had appeared on bottles since 1862. When the Irish Free State was established in 1922, it adopted the same harp as a national emblem but reversed its direction to avoid infringing Guinness's registered mark, one of the few documented cases of a sovereign state altering a national symbol to accommodate a commercial trademark.