Background
EasyGroup and its Irish subsidiary sued EasyFundraising Limited and its UK parent for alleged infringement of the EU trade mark easyfundraising.ie, registered in July 2025. They alleged that the defendants’ long-running UK fundraising website, easyfundraising.org.uk, targeted consumers in Ireland and the EU.
The defendants, who operate a UK platform through which purchases can generate donations to UK good causes, challenged Irish jurisdiction and sought to set aside service in the UK. They relied on features including UK-residency requirements, UK bank-account requirements for causes, UK-focused advertising, a .org.uk domain, and overwhelmingly UK-based website traffic and app downloads.
The Court’s Holding
Mr Justice Mulcahy set aside the order permitting service of the proceedings in the UK and declined jurisdiction. Although the plaintiffs needed only evidence creating a reasonable presumption that infringing acts may have occurred—not proof of targeting on the balance of probabilities—they did not meet that threshold.
Mere accessibility of a website or app in Ireland was insufficient. The court found no active conduct by the defendants directed at Irish or other EU consumers. Irish-affiliated retailers and causes on the site, limited Irish traffic and app downloads, app availability through Apple’s default settings, and the absence of geo-blocking or address verification did not establish targeting when considered individually or cumulatively.
Key Takeaways
- An EU trade-mark claimant relying on online activity must show a reasonable presumption of targeting in the relevant territory.
- Website accessibility, isolated use by Irish users, and a failure to geo-block do not alone amount to targeting.
- The overall UK-focused character of the website and business operations defeated the jurisdictional claim.
Why It Matters
The decision applies CJEU authority on online trade-mark jurisdiction to a digital fundraising platform. It confirms that the jurisdictional inquiry focuses on whether commercial content was actively directed at consumers in the forum, rather than on whether consumers there could access or use it.
For online operators, territorial terms, market-facing design and evidence of geographically focused activity can be important in resisting claims based solely on cross-border internet accessibility.