According to easyGroup founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the proposed new service will operate by buying airtime from network operator T-Mobile and selling this on cheaply to mobile users in the form of SIM cards, which will be inserted into each customer's existing phone. The company will sell only on-line and will not sell handsets or accessories.
Haji-Ioannou revealed plans for the new low-price mobile phone company in August 2004, and confirmed at the time that it would use the familiar orange livery of other companies under the easy brand.
But this concerned Orange Personal Communications, which has a registered trade mark for the colour orange in relation to, among other areas, "telecommunication products and services".
The two companies have been discussing the matter over the past six months, but according to Orange, talks have now broken down.
"Our brand, and the rights associated with it, are extremely important to us," the operator said in a statement. "In the absence of any firm commitment from Easy, we have been left with no choice but to start an action for trade mark infringement and passing off."
"I will see them in court," Stelios responded, in a posting on the easyGroup web site. "It is our right to use our own corporate colour for which we have become famous during the last 10 years," he said. "We have nothing to be afraid of in this court case."
Stelios also confirmed that a disclaimer would be posted on the web site stating:
"easyMobile is not connected to Orange Personal Communications Ltd, the company owned by France Telecom, with whom we are in dispute over our right to use the colour orange, an essential part of our iconic brand."
