AN Edmonton driving instructor has accused a major firm of “bullying” by claiming his company's name is guilty of copyright infringement.

Zeeshan Haniffa got a letter from EasyGroup – which includes airline EasyJet – asking him to stop using the name of his driving school, Ezee Drive Driving School, accusing him of “intellectual property infringement”.

Mr Haniffa, of St Peter's Road, received the letter from EasyGroup's lawyer Clarke Willmott on September 2, giving him seven days to destroy £1,000-worth of signs, leaflets and posters using the name, and hand over website domain names within two weeks.

But he has accused EasyGroup of taking a heavy-handed and unnecessary approach, and has so far refused to comply with the demands.

He said: “When I received this letter, it seemed more like a threat to scare me off.

“They are accusing me of passing off on their name and misleading the marketplace. But there is no confusion, no misleading and no passing off.

“I think they are trying to bully me into doing what they want.”

Mr Haniffa's logos do not use the same colours or letter as EasyGroup, and he has been advised the case against him is “weak”.

He set up the company in June after leaving a driving school to set up his own business. He has built up a base of customers in Enfield, Edmonton, and Tottenham, but fears EasyGroup has the financial muscle to drag this case through the courts.

EasyGroup said it is “unfair” to brand its actions as bullying, adding: “We expressly encourage the recipient to seek legal advice”.

It added in a statement: “We protect the ‘easy’ brand in order to protect consumers.

“In this way, we ensure that they are not misled into thinking they are dealing with an easyGroup company - on coming across a brand, the logo is not always visible, as is the case with radio advertising or Google ads which contain no specific font.”