Brand reputation: Sir Stelios determined to have his day(s) in court
Sir Stelios Haji-Iaonnou founded the easy group - © easySim
The Monegasque resident is constantly on a war footing with companies he considers ‘brand thieves’. Another battle is imminent.
On Sunday 10 March Sir Stelios spoke to The Observer, ahead of a fresh court case alleging an intellectual property breach regarding his beloved easy brand.
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Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou defends his strategy of – frequently – calling out companies he believes ‘create confusion’ in the minds of consumers, and seek to surf on the easyGroup’s reputation.
There have been cases where the ‘easy’ prefix has been used without authorisation, and therefore without paying licence royalties into the easyGroup, through which Sir Stelios finances much of his philanthropic activities.
Easy pickings?
Some consider him a “corporate bully.” As the Observer puts it, the billionaire “practically makes a living from arguing”. Last year, the British pop group Easy Life were forced to change their band’s name, as they couldn’t afford to fight easyGroup in the courts.
Others argue that ‘easy’ is an everyday word, and as such it is “unedifying” to claim intellectual property rights on it in a business context. Sir Stelios disagrees. “We have a duty to protect the consumer against confusion. I’m not the only one who has made an ordinary word a trademark,” he says, citing Virgin and Apple. He also justifies his defence of the brand as vital in a business environment that is dominated by search engines.
When is an orange not an orange?
For the upcoming case, Sir Stelios is taking on easyfundraising. They say their logo is a bright yellow. “I think it’s pale orange,” counters Haji-Ioannou. Perhaps, but surely not the easyJet orange, which is Pantone 021C? “It’s for the judge to decide if [easyfundraising]’s logo is too close. I’ve seen enough judgments now to know it could go either way,” he states.
“An army of lawyers”
“So is publicly scrapping with other companies over intellectual property how a knighted tycoon should spend his time?” asks the Observer.
“We have an army of lawyers: that’s what they’re paid to do. A percentage of the royalties we receive goes to lawyers to stop people using the name without permission,” says the billionaire, estimating that a “ninth” of his time is spent on these legal tussles.
The for-profit platform, easyfundraising, which was launched in 2005, describes itself as “the UK’s biggest charity shopping site”, raising money for causes via online retailers paying cashback. There is also revenue from advertising. The new logo dates from 2022.
Haji-Ioannou’s “army” is said to have found less than 10% of a random sample of over 2,000 such causes were registered charities. The company says the sample is not representative and that it has “never professed” to only support charities.
Will the courts find that, as is claimed, the new logo was created with the “utmost care to avoid any comparison or confusion with easyGroup” and that Sir Stelios’ claims of trademark infringement are “baseless accusations” ?
The easyGroup lawyers will claim: “This is a business that makes money out of two lies – pretending to be a charity when they’re not to get people to use their services, and pretending to be something to do with easyJet so people trust them with their money.”
The case comes to court in June.