MP Harriet Harman has made a plea to EasyGroup for them to retract their threat of legal action against Easy Life.
Earlier this week, the group revealed that they were being sued by the conglomerate owning easyJet and claimed the company was “forcing” them to change their name or they risked facing a costly legal battle.
In response, an EasyGroup spokesperson told NME: “Stelios and easyGroup founded and (now) own the right to the easy brand name.
“Other companies (including easyLife) pay annual royalties for its use as part of their business strategy. We cannot allow unauthorised third parties to simply use it free, gratis and for nothing. That would be very unfair.”
The company said in a separate statement: “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.”
The band refuted the suggestion that they were “brand thieves” and argued that they had been using their name a long time before the conglomerate licensed the name of the online retailer EasyLife, for which it receives an annual fee. The owner of EasyGroup has no financial interest in the business.
Now, Harman, who represents the constituency of Camberwell and Peckham, publicly wrote to easyJet on X/Twitter to speak up for the band.
“Hi @easyJet please confirm that you are withdrawing the legal action launched against my constituents’ band @easylife forthwith,” she wrote.
Hey Harriet, thanks so much for the show of solidarity. I emailed you this morning. Would be great to chat about this further with you
— easy life (@easylife) October 7, 2023
The band responded: “Hey Harriet, thanks so much for the show of solidarity. I emailed you this morning. Would be great to chat about this further with you.”
This isn’t the first time EasyGroup have sued other businesses for using names containing the word ‘easy’.
In 2018, the company took legal action against Netflix over its comedy series Easy, claiming its use of the name breached its European trademarks.
In response, Netflix said in a statement that “viewers can tell the difference between a show they watch and a plane they fly in”
In 2008, the Northampton-based restaurant easyCurry changed its name after being threatened with legal action.