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

easyGroup is a holding company established by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou in 2000 to be the owner and licensor of all intellectual property rights relating to the various “easy” businesses founded by Sir Stelios, the best-known of which is easyJet. Since 2000 those businesses have operated under licences granted by easyGroup.

ELS operates an online platform via a website located at www.easyliveauction.com (“the Defendants’ Website”) which enables auction houses to transmit auctions to customers and enables customers to bid on lots in those auctions in real time. It also supplies back-office software for use by auction houses. The Second and Third Defendants are the directors of ELS. It is common ground that, if ELS has infringed easyGroup’s trade marks, the Second and Third Defendants are jointly liable for such infringements. I will therefore follow the judge’s example of referring to the Defendants collectively.

This is the second claim which easyGroup has brought against the Defendants for trade mark infringement (and, in the first case, passing off). In the first claim easyGroup ultimately succeeded on some points, but its principal claims failed: [2022] EWHC 3327 (Ch) and [2023] EWCA Civ 1508.