EasyJet sues UK band over ‘Fuck the Tories’ jibe
Managing IP is part of the Delinian Group, Delinian Limited, 4 Bouverie Street, London, EC4Y 8AX, Registered in England & Wales, Company number 00954730
Copyright © Delinian Limited and its affiliated companies 2023

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

EasyJet sues UK band over ‘Fuck the Tories’ jibe

EasyJet airplane a320 flying in the sky at sunset

The easyJet owner’s trademark complaint says the band Easy Life has risked damage to the airline’s reputation through negative publicity

The owner of the easyJet airline has sued indie band Easy Life for trademark misuse, citing the band’s use of “political slurs” such as “Fuck the Tories”, a copy of a complaint seen by Managing IP has revealed.

The band revealed it had been sued by easyGroup in a post on X, formerly Twitter, yesterday, October 2. EasyGroup owns easyJet as well as various other ‘easy’ brands.

“They’re forcing us to change our name or take up a costly legal battle which we could never afford. We’ve worked hard to establish our brand and I’m certain [that] in no way have we ever affected their business,” the post said.

“Although we find the whole situation hilarious, we are virtually powerless against such a massive corporation.”

Law firm Stephenson Harwood filed the claim on easyGroup’s behalf at the England and Wales High Court on September 6.

The claim centres on Easy Life posters and merchandise that used similar branding to easyJet’s orange logo.

One tour poster featured an easyJet plane featuring the band’s name instead of the airline’s logo.

The band also sold t-shirts with an Easy Life logo that resembled the airline’s branding, the claim added.

EasyGroup said the conduct of lead singer Murray Matravers and other band members risked damaging the easyJet brand through negative publicity.

According to the complaint, Matravers shouted “profanities and political slurs” during a performance, including “Fuck,”, “Fuck the Tories,” “You’re all crazy c**ts,” and “You’re all crazy motherfuckers”.

The complaint also cited reports that Matravers had to be carried off stage after drinking five shots of Scotch whisky during a show in Glasgow.

At a show in Oxford last month, meanwhile, one band member was said to have invited the crowd to “stay behind and take ketamine” with them, the complaint added.

In its social media post, Easy Life promised to keep its fans updated on the complaint.

“For those of you that bought gig tickets and ended up on a budget flight to Tenerife, I apologise, for the rest of you, thank you so much for your support.”

more from across site and ros bottom lb

More from across our site

Firms explain how monitoring, referrals and relationships with foreign firms helped them get more work at the TTAB
Luke Toft explains why he moved back to Fox Rothschild after working in-house at Sleep Number for five months
We provide a rundown of Managing IP’s news and analysis coverage from the week, and review what’s been happening elsewhere in IP
In a seminal ruling, the Beijing Internet Court said images generated by Stable Diffusion counted as original works
Boston-based John Lanza is hoping to work more with life sciences colleagues on the ‘exciting’ application of AI to drug discovery
The Delhi High Court has expressed its willingness to set global licensing terms in the Nokia-Oppo dispute, but it must deal with longstanding problems first
Some patent counsel are still encountering errors even though the USPTO has fully transitioned to the new system
A senior USPTO attorney spoke at a Nokia-sponsored event on the EU’s proposed SEP Regulation today, November 29
IP counsel are ‘flooded’ with queries from clients worried about deepfakes, but the law has so far come up short
Each week Managing IP speaks to a different IP practitioner about their life and career