Alternative Indie band Easy Life say they’ve been left “virtually powerless” as they face a lawsuit over their identify by the holding group behind easyJet – whose founder has known as the musicians “brand thieves”.
The critically acclaimed Leicester band, who shaped in 2017 and have had two Top 10 albums, say they’re being compelled to alter their identify “or take up a costly legal battle which we could never afford”.
Responding to a request from Sky News for remark, founder and chairman Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou described Easy Life frontman Murray Matravers as a “brand thief”. He added that his firm has “a long established record to legally stopping brand thieves and I am confident we will stop Mr Matravers”.
In a submitting submitted to the High Court, seen by Sky News, easyGroup claims it “has suffered and/or is likely to suffer loss and damage” on account of the band’s identify, as simpleLife is amongst its household manufacturers. The lawsuit states that the monetary worth of the declare can’t at present be estimated, however it’s thought of to be “substantial”.
Read extra:
Orlando Bloom to star in Peppa Pig
Live Aid to be turned into a musical
Posting a press release on social media, Easy Life stated: “We’ve worked hard to establish our brand and I’m certain in no way have we ever affected their business.
“Although we discover this entire state of affairs hilarious, we’re nearly powerless towards such an enormous company.”
easyGroup is the proprietor of the household of manufacturers below the simple identify. It is the non-public funding automobile for easyJet’s founder, Sir Stelios, however every of the manufacturers, together with easyJet and easyHotel, are separate firms.
In their court docket submitting, they are saying the easylife catalogue retailer is a licensed model.
The easyGroup, which was arrange in 1998 by Sir Stelios, has beforehand taken authorized motion towards quite a few firms over using the “easy” model. It has a piece of its web site entitled “brand thieves”, which incorporates particulars of its authorized battles over the identify.
Content Source: news.sky.com