easyJet trademark owner settles suit with Colombia’s Easyfly

easyGroup Holdings, the owner of the easyJet and other “Easy” trademarks, has opted to settle an infringement lawsuit it filed early in 2020 against EasyFly (Colombia) (VE, Bogotá), according to filings at the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami.

EasyGroup sued the Colombian scheduled carrier – as well as the travel sites Kayak, Skyscanner, and Kiwi.com – in January 2020 accusing it of profiting from allegedly infringing its family of 19 trademarks due to the similarity to its name.

The travel sites were also accused of illegally profiting, in their case by promoting Easyfly tickets through their ticket comparison sites, but they were later permanently dismissed from the case.

EasyGroup initially took action against Easyfly in Colombia itself, then lost a case against the Colombian carrier at the High Court of Justice in London. But it expanded to Florida, claiming that EasyFly accepted payments from US customers.

As with the case in London, Easyfly attempted in April to have the US lawsuit dismissed for lack of jurisdiction but was unsuccessful. Finally, on August 4, EasyGroup notified the court in Miami that it planned to settle the matter out of court. The two parties have been told to submit a finalised written agreement and joint stipulation within 30 days, the notice said.

In March 2021, EasyFly launched a restructuring drive after securing creditor and regulatory approval for its business and debt reorganisation plan. The privately-owned carrier entered into bankruptcy protection in August 2020.

EasyGroup Holdings declined to comment, and EasyFly was not immediately available for comment.