Easy life: EasyJet brand owner row prompts band name switch

A band say they are going to change their name after the brand owners of airline easyJet started legal action against them.

Indie band easy life previously said easyGroup was suing them because their name was too similar.

The band now say they will stop using the name from Friday after a "whirlwind" 10 days.

EasyGroup previously said it would be "unfair" to let the band use the "easy" brand name without royalty payments.

EasyGroup said it would not comment for legal reasons until an agreement with the band was "signed, sealed and delivered".

In a statement on their website, easy life confirmed they would play two final shows under their current name at the 02 Academy in Leicester on Thursday and Koko in London on Friday.

In its claim lodged with the High Court, easyGroup said the band had promoted their Life's a beach tour, in 2021 and 2022, with a poster showing a plane in the style of easyJet's orange livery but substituting the airline's name with its own.

The company also said the band had produced T-shirts bearing their name in the firm's branded style and their website infringed its trademark with its similarity to easyJet branding.

The document stated: "By wrongly creating a link with the claimant, the defendant benefits from an association with that positive view and vast brand recognition, regardless of whether the link was intended to be provocative or humorous."

It said the band was "riding on the coat tails of the valuable reputation" of the company's brand, adding it was "not presently able to estimate the financial value of this claim, but considers that it will be substantial".

EasyGroup said other companies - including one of the UK's largest catalogue retailers, also called Easylife - paid for the use of its brand name.

In a previous statement, a spokesperson said: "Stelios [Haji-Ioannou] and easyGroup founded and now own the right to the easy brand name.

"Other companies, including Easylife [the catalogue company], pay annual royalties for its use as part of their business strategy.

"We cannot allow others to simply use it free, gratis and for nothing. That would be unfair."

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