Newsroom
EasyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou lost his appeal in a trademark dispute against Easyfundraising, a U.K. platform that raises money for charities through online shopping.
The Court of Appeal upheld a High Court ruling that the Staffordshire-based site did not infringe on the easyGroup brand. The judges said the shared use of the word “easy” was unlikely to confuse consumers and noted there was no evidence of confusion since Easyfundraising launched in 2005.
Haji-Ioannou, whose easyGroup licenses the “easy” name to ventures including easyHotel and easyCar, has a history of aggressively defending the brand. In 2023, his company forced British band Easy Life to change its name.
Easyfundraising CEO James Moir called the decision a victory against “bully-boy tactics” and said it allows the firm to focus on raising money, having generated more than £60 million for charities.
EasyGroup said it is considering an appeal to the Supreme Court and is pursuing separate legal action in Ireland over the platform’s name.
With information from The Telegraph.
