EasyJet’s brand owner has lost a trademark dispute against a fundraising website that has “easy” in its name.
EasyGroup took legal action against Easyfundraising, its founder, Ian Woodroffe OBE, and investors the Support Group (UK), after claiming it had infringed several trademarks.
However, the defendants claimed there was no evidence to suggest a customer would confuse the two brands.
In a high court ruling on Wednesday, Mr Justice Fancourt dismissed easyGroup’s claims, saying “it is unlikely that any but a few would make the association and be confused” between the two brands.
He added: “Users of Easyfundraising’s advertising services would be least likely to be confused, as they were relatively sophisticated and careful business persons, or professionals, and as such are most unlikely to consider that Easyfundraising or Easysearch is an ‘easy+’ brand or connected in some way with easyGroup.”
EasyGroup was set up in 1998 by the Greek Cypriot entrepreneur Stelios Haji-Ioannou, and as of May 2024 listed more than 200 easy+-branded business ventures and websites within its portfolio, including easyJet, easyBus and easyHotel.
EasyGroup claimed that in 2005 these trademarks were infringed when Easyfundraising was launched, and that the trademark was again infringed in 2007 by Easyfundraising’s creation of the easysearch brand.
EasyGroup also alleged the shopping website’s “poor reputation” would have a negative impact on the easy+ brand.
However, Fancourt determined in an 81-page ruling that as “there is no identity or similarity of services provided by Easyfundraising and the services specified, the claimant’s claim of infringement as at 2005 and 2007 must fail”.
Fancourt noted: “[The] large number of retailers that advertise with Easyfundraising and have done so for years, including well-known and reputable high street brands such as Marks & Spencer and John Lewis, demonstrate that retailers do not share the claimant’s view that Easyfundraising has a poor reputation.”
He added: “Indeed, many of the easyGroup licensees, including easyJet itself, advertised on Easyfundraising between 2010 and 2022, generating about £1.25m of sales.”
• The headline and text of this article were amended on 12 September 2024. An earlier version described easyGroup as “the parent company of easyJet”. This is not the case, though easyGroup is the owner of the airline’s brand name. Also an earlier version said that “Easyfundraising” was a “charity shopping website”; to clarify Easyfundraising is a company, not a charity.
