EasyJet owner easyGroup has launched another trademark lawsuit against a musician, this time producer Easyfun. Earlier this year the company forced the band Easy Life to change their name.
PC Music signed producer Easyfun - real name Finn Kean - is accused of “deliberate misappropriation” of the Easy brand by easyGroup in a new lawsuit. It also claims that Keane has attempted to “mimic easyGroup’s famous branding to create instant brand recognition for his DJing business”.
One specific instance of alleged infringement identified by easyGroup is the artwork for 2015 EP ‘Deep Trouble’. It showed an aeroplane with Easyfun’s name written on the nose styled similarly to the easyJet logo. Floating in the sea, passengers in swimwear are seen smiling, sliding down an escape slide towards bottles of champagne floating in the water.
“Not only is the artwork in bad taste but an association with such a tragic event risks seriously damaging the reputation in easyGroup’s trademarks, in particular easyJet”, says the lawsuit.
The company says it is seeking “substantial” damages from Keane.
Keane has responded by changing the artwork for the EP on digital platforms, and told easyGroup’s lawyers in an email: “If your client is annoyed at some of the artwork or images that they think mimics the easyFamily get up, that has always been completely tongue in cheek. It’s very obvious that it’s meant as a joke and I really struggle to understand why your client has any reason to be concerned about it”.
“That said”, he went on, “I obviously don’t want to be stuck in a legal dispute with a big company like your client and so I have removed the examples in your letter where I can and will seek to avoid similar artwork in the future”.
The band Easy Life initially resisted easyGroup’s efforts to get them to change their name earlier this year, but conceded defeat in October saying that they simply couldn’t afford to fight a legal battle with such a large company.