Practice - easyGroup Limited v Easylife Limited
Author Arpingstone Public Domain Source Wikimedia Commons Jane Lambert Chancery Division (Mr Hugh Sims QC) easyGroup Limited v Easylife Limited and another [2021] EWHC 1705 (Ch) (11 June 2021) This was a pretrial review of a trade mark infringement and passing off action before Mr Hugh Sims QC sitting as a deputy judge of the High Court. The claimant, easyGroup Ltd., holds the trade marks of a number of businesses that are known collectively as the easyGroup. Easylife Limited, the first defendant. operates a mail-order business supplying a range of household, gardening, motoring and other everyday products. I discuss this case because the deputy judge made two interesting decisions. The Applications He had to consider two applications: (1) One by the claimant to exclude some of the defendants' witness statements from the evidence; and (2) Another by the defendants for permission to amend their defence a few weeks bef...