Leicester-based band Easy Life, now rebranded as Hard Life, changed their name on June 11, 2024 following a legal dispute with easyGroup over trade mark infringement. easyGroup Ltd is the private investment vehicle of Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the founder of the airline easyJet, the largest UK airline by the number of passengers carried. easyGroup has over 250 registered trade marks in the UK and is known for rigorously enforcing its intellectual property rights.
Hard Life are an indie pop group formed in 2017. Both their albums reached No.2 on the UK album chart, and they won the NME award for Best New British Act in 2020. In 2021 and 2022, Easy Life promoted their Life’s a Beach tour with a promotional poster, and the band also offered T-shirts for sale.
On October 3, 2023, Sir Stelios and easyGroup released a statement highlighting their legal budget of £4m per year for taking action against brand thieves. They accused Murray Matravers, frontman of the band, of having ‘intentionally used easyGroup’s well known stylisation and images of easyJet planes in his marketing. Not only does this take unfair advantage of easyGroup’s brand but it can also damage it. For example, negative PR about Matravers (for example having to be carried off stage for being too drunk to perform), can reflect badly on easyGroup.’
easyGroup’s claim against the band focused on their use of the name Easy Life, their promotional poster and T-shirts. It cited several trade marks including EASYLIFE (which is registered in respect of 434 goods and services including CDs, clothing and musical instruments), EASYJET, EASYMUSIC and its trade mark for the livery of an easyJet aircraft. easyGroup relied on their ‘easy’ family of trade marks. It argued that since 1995 it has made extensive use within its business of names that commence with the name ‘easy’ followed by a word or words alluding to the key goods and/or services under that name, such as EASYBUS, EASYCLEANING, EASYFOOD and EASYCOURIER.
To prove trade mark infringement, easyGroup would need to show that the band were using either an identical mark in respect of identical goods or services, or an identical or similar mark in respect of similar goods or services with a likelihood of confusion by the public, or the band’s use of the marks took unfair advantage of, or is detrimental to, the distinctive character or repute of easyGroup’s trade marks. easyGroup argued that the band were riding on the coattails of their
valuable reputation.
It is difficult to determine who would have won if the case had proceeded to trial. Insofar as the poster is concerned (which was clearly satire), whilst parody can be a defence against copyright infringement, there is no similar defence for trade mark infringement.
It is unlikely the public would think the band’s music business originated from or was connected with easyGroup. easyGroup has lost a previous dispute with EasyRoommate where it was determined that easyGroup’s trade mark was descriptive and not valid because distinctiveness has a very high threshold which the EASY trade mark did not meet on its own. In addition, easyGroup has lost marks such as EASYOFFICE in the past due to non-use. easyGroup’s EASYLIFE mark was filed in 2020 therefore the band may have been able to rely on their prior use of the name Easy Life since 2015 (when the band played their first gig) to invalidate easyGroup’s EASYLIFE mark.
Nevertheless, in a statement made on social media, the band expressed their inability to fight a costly legal battle against such a large corporation, saying: “They’re forcing us to change our name or take up a costly legal battle that we could never afford. Although we find the whole situation hilarious, we are virtually powerless against such a massive corporation.”
Hard Life have announced a new single, Tears, which included a lyric referencing Stelios Haji-Ioannou. easyGroup’s representatives claimed the lyric is ‘disparaging and defamatory,’ alleging it breached their settlement agreement, which resulted in Hard Life releasing a new version of their song with amended lyrics a couple of days after the original version was released.
In conclusion, if we can learn anything from Hard Life’s legal challenges, it is worth seeking brand clearance from intellectual property specialists before proceeding with a brand name or imagery and it is important to consider trade mark registration for additional protection.
The specialist Intellectual Property team at Howes Percival are experienced in advising clients on all aspects of brand protection and potential intellectual property infringement.
If you would like to get in touch in relation to any of the issues raised in this article or any other Intellectual Property matters, email: zara.khan@howespercival.com
Contact Howes Percival on 01604 230400 or visit the website here.
