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Mumbai HC to hear Macrotech's Abhishek Lodha's plea seeking to restrain younger brother from using trademark on Jan 27

Jan 21, 2025 11:23 PM IST

The case pertains to the use of the Lodha brand. Macrotech had approached the Bombay HC to restrain HoABL from using the brand name ‘Lodha’ in any form.

The Bombay High Court will hear Macrotech Developers Ltd led by Abhishek Lodha’s plea seeking to restrain younger brother Abhinandan Lodha from using the trademark 'Lodha' on January 27.

The Bombay High Court said on January 21 that it would hear Macrotech Developers Ltd led by Abhishek Lodha’s plea seeking to restrain younger brother Abhinandan Lodha from using the trademark 'Lodha' on January 27. (FOR REPRESENTATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY)(HT_PRINT)
The Bombay High Court said on January 21 that it would hear Macrotech Developers Ltd led by Abhishek Lodha’s plea seeking to restrain younger brother Abhinandan Lodha from using the trademark 'Lodha' on January 27. (FOR REPRESENTATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY)(HT_PRINT)

The case pertains to the use of the Lodha brand. Macrotech had approached the Bombay High Court last week to restrain the House of Abhinandan Lodha (HoABL), a company set up by his younger brother, from using the brand name ‘Lodha’ in any form. They further demanded a perpetual injunction to the tune of 5,000 crore.

The Bombay High Court on January 21 said that it would hear on January 27 the application filed by Abhishek Lodha-promoted Macrotech Developers Ltd seeking an injunction against his younger brother from using the trademark 'Lodha'.

The application came up for hearing on January 21 before a single bench of Justice Manish Pitale. The court, however, noted that it could not hear the plea, as the suit had sought damages of 5,000 crore.

Meanwhile, as per the synopsis of the writ petition shared by Macrotech, the company claimed that it had paid 1000 crore to his brother Abhinandan Lodha, chairman of the House of Abhinandan Lodha, at the time of separation.

“Initially, it was agreed that each family member would take some assets and some debt. However, at a later stage, Abhinandan insisted that he does not want to handle so many customers, debt and construction and hence, wants only money. As a result, Abhishek and his parents were left with 20,000 crores of debt and Abhinandan separated to start new business with pay out of 1,000 crores,” Macrotech said in a document highlighting the key clauses in the petition.

The House of Abhinandan Lodha, the company set up by the younger brother Abhinandan Lodha, (which is part of Lodha Ventures) after he quit Macrotech Developers (erstwhile Lodha Developers), has refuted the claim.

“They have stated that Mr. Abhinandan Lodha was given 1,000 crores. This is a lie which is contradicting their own case in court filed last week where they have attached the family settlement agreement of 2017 which clarifies that under all the awards and settlement document Mr. Abhinandan Lodha has received 429 crore and some apartments all amounting to 500 crore…"

What does the petition say?

Abhishek Lodha, who leads Macrotech Developers, in the suit filed last week, said the "Lodha" brand name was built over the last four decades, and his firm had spent 1,700 crore in brand building in a decade alone. The suit said the Lodha name commands a lot of goodwill, and Macrotech's domestic property sales alone stand at 91,000 crore over the last decade.

"The Lodha Group has spent considerable time, effort and money building its brand through advertisements and endorsements, and is renowned across India and abroad for the quality and scale of its developments," the commercial intellectual protection suit filed by Macrotech in the Bombay High Court says.

In its petition, Macrotech said, in view of the 2015 agreement, the defendants are expressly prohibited from using the Lodha trademarks and/or any trademark deceptively similar.

It said the defendants have suppressed material and relevant facts from the trademark registry and also made several misrepresentations while making applications in respect of / securing registration of the impugned marks.

When approached, a Lodha spokesperson said that “Lodha's brand has been built with lots of investment and effort over 40 years. It is critical for the company to protect its IPR and ensure that no other developer creates confusion of being similar to / same as our brand. Our shareholders include the world's most renowned investors and one of India's largest charitable entities - we are duty bound to protect our company's valuable rights.”

When contacted, Abhinandan Lodha, chairman, HoABL said "We are very clear that we are into plotted development and not high-rise buildings, and largely operate in locations where Macrotech is not present and this was by choice.”

"Lodha Ventures and Lodha FinServ were given to me as part of the settlement process, and the understanding was that the Lodha name was not to be used on a standalone basis in real estate, and hence, we have our companies as Lodha Ventures, The House of Abhinandan Lodha (which is our real estate arm), and Lodha Finserve (non-operative now)," he added.

In the response, he said that he has helped Macrotech many times in the past even after the family settlement including lending 900 crore through the NBFC, giving corporate and personal guarantees and even mortgaging his own flat to raise funds in the interest of the family.

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