03/10/2023
In the past 24 hours, fans of Leicester band Easy Life will have heard that the band are being sued by easyGroup Limited because of its name. In a post on the band’s social media pages, the band allege that “they’re forcing us to change our name or take up a costly legal battle which we could never afford.”
Easy Life is a band formed in Leicester in 2017. The band’s first two studio albums Life’s a Beach (2021) and Maybe in Another Life… (2022) both hit number two in the UK Albums Chart. The band has played on stages up and down the country, including on Glastonbury Festival’s renowned Pyramid Stage in 2022. Players of the FIFA games will also be familiar with the band’s music, with the songs Pockets and Skeletons featuring on the FIFA 19 and FIFA 22 soundtracks respectively.
easyGroup Limited are responsible for the “easy® family of brands”, including easyJet, easyCar and easyHotel. easyGroup Limited is no stranger to litigation involving its intellectual property and has frequently taken action against others seeking to incorporate the element “easy” into their brand names (those the easyGroup term as “brand thieves”) .
In response to Easy Life’s social media post, easyGroup issued the following statement on its website:
“With reference to the brand thief Mr Matravers and his fellow band members who have decided to use our brand, easyLife without permission.
We have a long established record of legally stopping thieves from using our brands and I am confident we will stop Mr Matravers.”
Whilst easyJet is arguably the easyGroup’s most famous brand, easyGroup has a diverse portfolio of businesses, ranging from public relations services, to investment banking services, to conveyancing services. easyGroup has a history of using trade marks prefixed with “easy” followed by a generally descriptive element (Taxis, Food, Pizza, Cruise). From its use of the “easy” prefix easyGroup are likely to argue that the use of the name Easy Life will cause consumers to think that there is a link between the band and easyGroup’s brands.
easyGroup now offers its own “easyLife.co.uk” brand. Archived internet webpages dated 13 October 2022 show the easyGroup’s easyLife brand as “coming soon”. The present day website directs to www.easylife.co.uk/; a website retailing “problem-solving products for the home and garden”.
The website happens to be operated by Easylife Ltd; a former adversary of easyGroup. In August 2021, easyGroup unsuccessfully sued Easylife Ltd in the High Court. easyGroup had claimed trade mark infringement and passing off, but all grounds of claim were dismissed, with the court finding that there would be no consumer confusion, no taking of an unfair advantage and no detriment to the repute or distinctive character of easyGroups trade marks.
However, as of August 2022, easyGroup Limited own all UK trade mark registrations which were formerly owned by Easylife Limited.
A spokesperson for easyGroup has told the BBC:
“Other companies, including Easylife [the catalogue company], pay annual royalties for its use as part of their business strategy.
“We cannot allow others to simply use it free, gratis and for nothing. That would be unfair.”
We watch with interest what will happen next. The band’s activities seem even further away from those of the easyGroup. The band was formed before easyGroup took an assignment of the Easylife trade mark registrations, none of which cover recording artist services. How will easyGroup handle the public reaction? Social media and the news websites are already awake.
This article is for general information only. Its content is not a statement of the law on any subject and does not constitute advice. Please contact Reddie & Grose LLP for advice before taking any action in reliance on it.
