The Top 10 Biggest Trademark Disputes of 2018
Following on from last year's post about the biggest trademark battles of the year, Lawyer Monthly has put together this year's round up.
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Netflix Vs easyJet
Is it a plane? Is it a bird? Is it a TV show?
In September 2018, billionaire and Founder of travel airline easyJet, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou took to suing Netlflix, one of the largest tech companies in the world and popular streaming service, for alleged trademark infringement by its comedy series Easy.
Haji-Ioannou claims an increasing number of “brand thieves” are attempting to “piggyback” off his business, easyGroup, which is now aiming for a high court injunction to stop the $166bn (£127bn) US tech firm from airing the programme under the name ‘Easy’ in Europe. He also wants $13,052 (£10,000) in damages.
A spokesperson for easyGroup, a company that takes brand licensing and legal action very seriously, said: “easyGroup now owns more than 1,000 registered trademarks within the easy family of brands all over the world and takes its protection from unauthorised use very seriously,” according to the Guardian.
Netflix added in a statement that: “Viewers can tell the difference between a show they watch and a plane they fly in.” That actually makes sense, but we’re yet to see how this one will play out, as these two very large brands take each other head on for the sake of branding & trademark.
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