MUMBAI: Macrotech Developers, a construction major promoted by Abhishek Lodha, has filed an intellectual property rights (IPR) suit before Bombay HC against his younger brother’s real estate company, the eponymous House of Abhinandan Lodha, seeking a stay on the use of ‘Lodha’ or a similar brand name to market properties.
A single judge bench of Justice Manish Pitale on Tuesday said as the matter pertains to a commercial dispute whose value exceeds Rs 100 crore, it should be placed before the appropriate bench —Justice Arif Doctor, who is assigned to handle such high-value matters. Rahul Dwarkadas, co-founding partner of Veritas Legal, through whom the suit and application were filed, later had the matter mentioned and it has been posted for hearing on Jan 27.
The application said the use of the ‘Lodha’ trademark by House of Abhinandan Lodha in real estate projects led to confusion among buyers and investors, resulting in an estimated loss of over Rs 5,000 crore, which is likely to rise if a stay is not granted.
Lodha’s brand has been built over 40 years, making it crucial to protect its IPR and prevent confusion with similar developers, said a Macrotech spokesperson. The company was incorporated in 1995, and in May 2010, it applied for and obtained various trademarks and registered a domain name for its ‘Lodha’ brand. Nearly seven years later, following rising debts the company faced, Abhinandan separated to start a new business, the plea before HC said.
The suit said from 2021-23, as the Lodha group grew, Abhinandan entered the real estate business dealing with “plots” and soon began calling his business ‘House of Abhinandan Lodha’ (HoABL).
Asserting that Macrotech “is unable to digest” the success of his company, Abhinandan said, “‘House of Abhinandan Lodha’ is a registered trademark since 2021 and in just four years, we have projects at 16 locations with gross sales of over Rs 6,500 crore with over 7,000 customers across 25 countries, 23 states, 107 cities…” Its legal team will give “appropriate replies in court”, he said.
Senior advocates Darius Khambata appeared for Macrotech, Janak Dwarkadas for Macrotech, and Aspi Chinoy for HoABL.
