A father who runs a street cleaning business called EasyJetwash is facing legal threats from easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou.
Jozsef Spekker, 43, offers services such as pressure washing, yards and gardens for around £100. Despite operating his venture solo for three years, he is now under pressure from easyGroup, owned by budget airline tycoon Sir Stelios. The billionaire’s company has demanded that Jozsef be reappointed or risk a costly lawsuit.
Jozsef, from Staffordshire, said: “They explained how my branding was very damaging to their business. They wanted me to remove all branding from Facebook and social media and shut it down. If I do what they want me to to close the business, I would have to start over.
He added: “The first two years I spent a lot of money on advertising. I have hundreds of videos on YouTube, a ten-minute video takes a lot of time to edit. I have at least 160 videos. People love to watch them. It is mainly the word easy which is the problem that I call myself EasyJetwash”, the Mirror reports.
“If you go through most of my social posts, for example Easy and Jet. I try and make it clear that we have nothing to do with easyJet. They hang on the word ‘easy’, saying I’m trying to confuse customers of them believing that I am part of their group I look very, very different.
“All the business I do, they don’t offer it. The whole idea of calling my business EasyJetwash is that I’ve made hard physical work very easy with the right equipment and it’s really simple and easy to do . They[easyJet)don’tdoanyexteriorcleaningorbuildingrestorationwhichIdo[easyJet)nukebëjnë”tofrojndonjëpastrimtëjashtëmoserestaurimtëndërtesëstëcilënebëj[easyJet)don’tofferanyexteriorcleaningorbuildingrestorationwhichIdo
“That’s why my trademark was accepted. They didn’t challenge my trademark. I’m completely scared. Who am I compared to a multi-billion pound corporation? Just a few weeks ago I paid £800 on my credit card and I have no savings, I can’t fight it in court.”
After securing approval for his company’s trademark in April 2022, Jozsef, a Hungarian-born business owner who suffers from degenerative arthritis, has faced the stress of a potential legal battle. “I’m worried I’m going to lose everything,” the Newcastle-under-Lyme man confessed, stating that his venture differs significantly from easyGroup’s services.
“Not only the business, but also the look of the business, and the way EasyJetwash is displayed. When I registered as a trademark and was accepted, I was 100 percent sure that I have every right over my business which is my only income. “
In an effort to raise funds for any impending legal bills, Jozsef has set up a GoFundMe page. Expressing his concerns, he said: “I’m worried about losing everything to be honest. With GoFundMe, maybe I have a way to fight it. I can’t afford someone to represent me. I’m just a guy .Loads of people say I can win this case.
“It’s not only ridiculous, it’s heartless. If you have the money, you can sue anyone. I’m pretty sure they’re going to be tough.”
But Sir Stelios has hit back, accusing Jozsef of being a “brand thief”.
He said: “From my perspective, I think Mr Spekker is one of the most calculating and profitable brand thieves I have come across in my 30 years of doing this work.
“Not only did he register the domain easyjetwash.com which clearly contains the word easyJet, but he also very cleverly performed search engine optimization to come very high in google search engine results using the search term ‘easyjet wash’ .
“So now Spekker is running a very profitable business getting more and more clients who fall for the deliberate confusion he creates on the Internet. Don’t believe he doesn’t have the money to hire a lawyer. His problem is that no lawyer will tell him that what he is doing is legal.
“While there are some people who argue that we don’t have a monopoly on the word easy (which I disagree with), Spekker is the first person to ever argue that we don’t have a monopoly on the word easyJet. we clearly own the word easyJet We will win in court.”