Greg Adey
Call 2019
Greg specialises in competition law and all aspects of intellectual property law, encompassing both contentious and non-contentious matters. Greg is ranked as a ‘Rising Star’ by Legal 500 and as ‘Up and Coming’ by Chambers and Partners in competition law.
Prior to coming to the Bar, Greg was an Assistant Manager in the Pensions Actuarial department at KPMG LLP.
Greg’s current and recent instructions include:
- Ad Tech Collective Action LLP v Alphabet Inc – acting for the class representative in opt-out collective proceedings before the Competition Appeal Tribunal alleging that Google has abused its dominant position in online advertising markets to the detriment of online publishers (led by Robert O’Donoghue KC and Gerry Facenna KC).
- Utilita Energy Ltd v PayPoint Plc – acted for Utilita in a claim for damages before the Competition Appeal Tribunal alleging that PayPoint had abused its dominant position in the market for the provision of over-the-counter pre-payment services to energy suppliers (led by Derek Spitz).
- DKH Retail Ltd v City Football Group Ltd – acted for Superdry in trade mark infringement proceedings against Manchester City Football Club relating to branding appearing on Premier League football training kit (led by Philip Roberts KC).
- Cabo Concepts Ltd v MGA Entertainment (UK) Ltd – acted for the Claimant in a claim involving alleged infringements of competition law and unjustified threats of patent infringement, and a defence based on passing off (led by Ronit Kreisberger KC and Mark Chacksfield KC).
- Dr Liza Lovdahl Gormsen v Meta Platforms Inc – acted for the class representative in opt-out collective proceedings before the Competition Appeal Tribunal alleging that Meta has abused its dominant position in the market for personal social networking services to the detriment of users (led by Robert O’Donoghue KC and Ronit Kreisberger KC).
- Blackfridge SC Ltd v Tether Operations Ltd – acted for the Defendant in trade mark infringement proceedings before the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court relating to stablecoin crypto assets (led by Philip Roberts KC).
In addition to working as part of a counsel team, Greg has appeared unled in the High Court and the UK Intellectual Property Office.
-
Examples of Recent Cases
-
Intellectual Property
- DKH Retail Ltd v City Football Group Ltd
Acted for Superdry in trade mark infringement proceedings against Manchester City Football Club relating to branding appearing on Premier League football training kit (led by Philip Roberts KC). - Cabo Concepts Ltd v MGA Entertainment (UK) Ltd
Acted for the Claimant in a claim involving alleged infringements of competition law and unjustified threats of patent infringement, and a defence based on passing off (led by Ronit Kreisberger KC and Mark Chacksfield KC). - Blackfridge SC Ltd v Tether Operations Ltd
Acted for the Defendant in trade mark infringement proceedings before the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court relating to stablecoin crypto assets (led by Philip Roberts KC). - Genius Sports Technologies Ltd and Others v Soft Construct (Malta) Ltd and Others
Acted for the Defendants in a dispute between competitors in the market for live match sports data involving a claim for infringement of database rights and defences under competition law (led by Philip Roberts KC and Aidan Robertson KC). - Sky’s Trade Mark; SkyKick’s Application for a Declaration of Invalidity
Acted for Sky in relation to trade mark cancellation proceedings before the EU Intellectual Property Office concerning allegations of bad faith due to repeat filings (led by Philip Roberts KC). - Safe-T-Systems Holdings Ltd and Another v ILR Safety CC
Acted (unled) for the Claimants in a dispute concerning a claim for breach of an agreement made to settle previous proceedings which had involved claims of trade mark infringement, passing off, copyright infringement, malicious falsehood and breach of contract. - Ex parte hearings before the UK Intellectual Property Office
Acted (unled) for the applicants in two separate ex parte hearings before the UK Intellectual Property Office, successfully arguing in both cases that the Hearing Officer should waive the Registry’s preliminary objections under sections 3(1)(b) and (c) of the Trade Marks Act 1994 in their entirety. - H/2 Capital Partners Trade Mark
Acted in relation to various trade mark cancellation and opposition proceedings before the EU Intellectual Property Office involving relative grounds objections and issues of revocation on grounds of non-use (led by Emma Himsworth KC). - Sky Ltd (formerly Sky Plc) v SkyKick UK Ltd
Assisted Geoffrey Hobbs KC and Philip Roberts KC (during pupillage) with an appeal to the Court of Appeal in trade mark infringement proceedings involving a judgment of the CJEU on a preliminary reference and issues of infringement, passing off and invalidity on grounds of bad faith. - Philip Warren & Son Ltd v Lidl Great Britain Ltd
Assisted Andrew Lomas (during pupillage) with a passing off claim brought by a family butcher against the Lidl supermarket chain. - Puma SE v Nike Innovate CV
Assisted Emma Himsworth KC and Guy Hollingworth (during pupillage) with an appeal to the High Court against a decision of the UK Intellectual Property Office in trade mark opposition proceedings.
- DKH Retail Ltd v City Football Group Ltd
-
Competition
- Ad Tech Collective Action LLP v Alphabet Inc.
Acting for the class representative in opt-out collective proceedings before the Competition Appeal Tribunal alleging that Google has abused its dominant position in online advertising markets to the detriment of online publishers (led by Robert O’Donoghue KC and Gerry Facenna KC). - Utilita Energy Ltd v PayPoint Plc
Acted for Utilita in a claim for damages before the Competition Appeal Tribunal alleging that PayPoint had abused its dominant position in the market for the provision of over-the-counter pre-payment services to energy suppliers (led by Derek Spitz). - Cabo Concepts Ltd v MGA Entertainment (UK) Ltd
Acted for the Claimant in a claim involving alleged infringements of competition law and unjustified threats of patent infringement, and a defence based on passing off (led by Ronit Kreisberger KC and Mark Chacksfield KC). - Dr Liza Lovdahl Gormsen v Meta Platforms, Inc.
Acted for the class representative in opt-out collective proceedings before the Competition Appeal Tribunal alleging that Meta has abused its dominant position in the market for personal social networking services (led by Robert O’Donoghue KC and Ronit Kreisberger KC).
- Merchant Interchange Fee Umbrella Proceedings
Acted for Ocado Holdings Ltd in the interchange fee litigation against Mastercard and Visa before the Competition Appeal Tribunal (led by Derek Spitz).
- Genius Sports Technologies Ltd and Others v Soft Construct (Malta) Ltd and Others
Acted for the Defendants in a dispute between competitors in the market for live match sports data involving a claim for infringement of database rights and defences under competition law (led by Philip Roberts KC and Aidan Robertson KC).
- Ad Tech Collective Action LLP v Alphabet Inc.
-
-
What the Directories Say
"Greg is responsive with strong written work and very analytical attention to detail." (Competition, Chambers & Partners, 2025)
‘Greg really is a star junior. He has it all – razor sharp intellect, wonderful judgment, unflappable, and extremely collegiate. He also has a real maturity that many juniors often lack. He should be ranked much higher!’ (Competition, Legal 500, 2025)
-
Education
- University of Law, Bar Professional Training Course LLM (Outstanding) [2018-2019]
- University of Law, Graduate Diploma in Law (Distinction) [2017-2018]
- University of Birmingham, BSc Mathematics (First Class, ranked 1st in year) [2010-2013]
-
Academic Achievements
- Best Overall BPTC Student Award, University of Law Birmingham [2019]
- Highest Mark in Oral Skills (Advocacy) Award, University of Law Birmingham [2019]
- Highest Mark in Criminal Litigation Award, University of Law Birmingham [2019]
- Lord Denning Major BPTC Scholarship, Lincoln’s Inn [2018]
- Lord Brougham GDL Scholarship, Lincoln’s Inn [2017]
- Austin Prize for distinction in Pure Mathematics, University of Birmingham [2013]
- Science Prize, University of Birmingham [2013]
- Calderwood Prize for distinction in algebra at the end of the first year, University of Birmingham [2010]
-
Previous Employment
- KPMG LLP (Assistant Manager, Pensions Actuarial) [2016-2018; 2019-2020]
- Willis Towers Watson (Actuarial Consultant, Retirement) [2016]
- KPMG LLP (Actuarial Trainee, Pensions Actuarial) [2013-2015]