CA-2024-002240 - [2025] EWCA Civ 946

This is an appeal by the Claimant (“easyGroup”) against an order made by Nicholas Caddick KC sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge on 17 September 2024 dismissing easyGroup’s claims that (i) the First Defendant (“ELS”) has infringed two trade marks, namely the compound word “easylife” and a stylised mark including that compound word, by the use of various signs, in particular the words EASY LIVE AUCTION, compounds such as “EasyLiveAuction” and logos which include those words, and (ii) a trade mark registered by ELS is invalid. There is also a cross-appeal by the Defendants against the judge’s partial dismissal of their counterclaim to revoke one of the trade marks for non-use. The judge’s order was made for the reasons he gave in a judgment dated 4 September 2024 [2024] EWHC 2282 (Ch).

I granted permission for both the appeal and the cross-appeal, in part because of inconsistent conclusions with respect to the counterclaim reached by the judge in this case and by Fancourt J in easyGroup Ltd v easyfundraising Ltd [2024] EWHC 2323 (Ch). We heard an appeal by easyGroup against the latter decision immediately after this appeal, and we are giving judgment on both appeals at the same time. On this appeal we had the benefit of submissions from all three counsel.

The judge used a series of defined terms in his judgment which in the interests of consistency I will adopt.