EasyJet parent company EasyGroup loses trademark dispute.
EasyJet’s parent company, EasyGroup has lost a trademark dispute (brand theft claim) against a charity shopping website that has “easy” in its name.
EasyGroup initiated legal proceedings against Easyfundraising, and it's founder Ian Woodroffe OBE, and the investors known as the Support Group (UK), alleging multiple instances of trademark infringement. The defendants, however, contended that there was no substantial evidence indicating that consumers would confuse the two brands. In a ruling delivered by Mr. Justice Fancourt on Wednesday, the court rejected EasyGroup's allegations, stating that “it is improbable that more than a few individuals would associate and confuse” the two brands. Furthermore, he remarked: “Users of Easyfundraising’s advertising services are the least likely to experience confusion, as they are generally sophisticated and discerning business individuals or professionals, making it highly unlikely that they would perceive Easyfundraising or Easysearch as an ‘easy+’ brand or associate it in any manner with easyGroup.”
EasyGroup asserted that its trademarks were violated in 2005 with the introduction of Easyfundraising, and again in 2007 when Easyfundraising established the easysearch brand. Furthermore, EasyGroup contended that the charity shopping website's unfavorable reputation could adversely affect the easy+ brand. Hudge Fancourt concluded in an extensive 81-page ruling that there was a lack of identity or similarity between the services offered by Easyfundraising and those specified, leading to the dismissal of the claimant's infringement claims for both 2005 and 2007.
Easyfundraising was launched in 2005, and claims to have over 2 million supporters which have raised over £50 million for thousands of causes across the U.K.
Earlier this year, a British indie band formerly known as EasyLife had to change its name to Hard Life following a legal clash that started in 2023 with easyGroup, the owner of the airline easyJet.
EasyGroup was founded in 1998 by Stelios Haji-Ioannou, a Greek Cypriot entrepreneur with a reported net worth of $1.2m. By May 2024, the company had over 200 businesses and websites under the easy+ brand, such as easyJet, easyBus, and easyHotel.
