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Informist, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025

 

--HC sends Abhishek Lodha, Abhinandan Lodha to mediation in trademark suit 

--CONTEXT: Abhishek's Macrotech Developers in HC vs House of Abhinandan Lodha 

--CONTEXT: Suit relates to Lodha trademark use by House of Abhinandan Lodha 

 

NEW DELHI – Hearing an INR-50-billion trademark suit filed by Abhishek Lodha's Macrotech Developers Ltd. against younger brother Abhinandan Lodha's company, House of Abhinandan Lodha Estate Holdings Pvt. Ltd, the Bombay High Court on Friday sent the two brothers to mediation to resolve their dispute. The court said that initially the mediation process should be between the two brothers, thereafter all the parties would be given liberty to join the proceedings.

 

The high court said that if the mediation process is not successful, then the case will proceed on Macrotech Developers's plea to seek ad-interim relief against House of Abhinandan Lodha for barring the latter from using 'Lodha' trademark. The high court will hear the case next on Mar. 21.

 

Macrotech Developers had filed a trademark suit seeking to restrain House of Abhinandan Lodha Estate Holdings from using the word 'Lodha' in any form. Macrotech had said that due to the "infringement" and "passing off" of its well-known trademarks, defendants have caused losses or damages to the company, provisionally estimated at more than INR 50 billion. They said these losses would widen if the defendants are allowed to continue using the 'Lodha' name.

 

In 2015, Abhinandan Lodha had parted ways from the Lodha Group and started House of Abhinandan Lodha Estate Holdings. The separation was formalised based on a family settlement agreement in 2017. Due to non-compliance with the 2017 agreement by Abhinandan Lodha, a new agreement was signed between the two parties in December 2023, which prohibited him from using a name similar to 'Lodha'. 

 

The petitioner said that despite the defendants not having the right over the trademarks, they have undertaken various actions to illegally and unauthorisedly use its 'Lodha' trademark with an intent to 'infringe' and 'pass off' their business as being associated with Abhishek Lodha's business. Macrotech Developers has spent time, effort and money on building its brand through advertisements and endorsements, the petitioner said, adding that it was known across the country and abroad for its quality and scale of real estate development projects. Lodha Group is currently developing over 40 real estate projects across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune and Bengaluru and is likely to expand in other cities, said the petitioner. 

 

At 1130 IST, shares of Macrotech Developers were trading 4.9% up at INR 1,217.20 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

 

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