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Lodha v/s Lodha: Abhishek Lodha sues brother over use of "Lodha" name

Lodha's brand has been built over 40 years of investment and effort, making it crucial to protect its IPR and prevent confusion with similar developers, said a Macrotech spokesperson.

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New Delhi: Abhishek Lodha-promoted Macrotech Developers has filed a case against his younger brother's real estate firm, House of Abhinandan Lodha, alleging the use of a similar brand 'Lodha' to market its properties.

Abhishek, who helms the flagship company of the Group, Macrotech Developers, has claimed that the "Lodha" brand name has been built over the last four decades and Rs 1,700 crore has been spent by his company in brand building in the last decade alone.

There is a lot of goodwill commanded by the Lodha name, and Macrotech's domestic property sales alone stand at Rs 91,000 crore over the last decade, the petition says.

"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.

The Lodha brothers, sons of BJP leader and Maharashtra cabinet minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha, had reached a settlement in 2015.

The House of Abhinandan Lodha is part of Lodha Ventures, which was established by Abhinandan after quitting Macrotech Developers (erstwhile Lodha Developers).

"Lodha's brand has been built with lots of investment and effort over 40 years. The company must protect its IPR and ensure that no other developer creates confusion about being similar to or the same as our brand," a spokesperson for Macrotech said.

Stating that the company will contest the claims in court legally, a spokesperson for the House of Abhinandan Lodha alleged Macrotech is not able to digest its successes.

The understanding in the family was that the "Lodha" name was not to be used on a standalone basis in real estate, the House of Abhinandan Lodha spokesperson said, adding that Lodha Ventures and Lodha FinServ were given to Abhinandan as part of the same settlement.

"'... we have our companies as - 1) Lodha Ventures, 2) The House of Abhinandan Lodha, which is our real estate arm 3) Lodha Finserve (Non-Operative now)," the spokesperson added.

In the response, the spokesperson for Abhinandan's company said that he has helped Macrotech many times in the past even after the family settlement, including lending Rs 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.

When asked if there was a deadline in the settlement by which the Lodha name cannot be used by Abhinandan, the spokesperson declined to comment saying it is a private agreement.

The case has been listed for hearing before Justice Manish Pitale on Tuesday, January 21.

Lodha Group real estate House of Abhinandan Lodha court Abhinandan Lodha
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