An internal legal battle seems to be brewing in the Lodha Group as Abhishek Lodha—the chief executive officer(CEO) of Macrotech Developers has sued his brother Abhidandan Lodha who runs a real estate company by the name of House of Abhinandan Lodha(HoABL), court filings accessed by Moneycontrol showed.
In the petition, Abhishek Lodha’s Macrotech Developers has asked the Bombay High Court to restrain his brother Abhinandan from using the brand name ‘Lodha’ or ‘Lodha Group’. The case will be taken up by a bench of Bombay High Court consisting of Justice A.S Chandurkar and Justice MM Sathaye later this week.
In the petition, Abhishek Lodha has also asked the court to restrain Abhidandan Lodha from selling, advertising or marketing same goods or services being offered by Macrotech, court filings showed.
“By the present suit, the plaintiffs(Abhishek Lodha) are inter alia seeking appropriate injunctions, reliefs, and compensation against Defendant Nos.1 to acts of passing off their business and/or trademarks in a manner which is deceptively similar and/or identical to the plaintiffs’ widely known and highly valuable brand name of ‘LODHA’ and ‘LODHA Group’ with a view to benefit and gain an unlawful advantage from misleading stakeholders and customers in the real estate field..” said the petition filed by Macrotech showed.
In 2015, both the brothers had split the real estate empire created by patriarch Mangal Prabhat Lodha. Marcotech is a listed entity with a market capitalisation of Rs 1.2 lakh crore.
“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.” Said a Lodha Spokesperson in response to Moneycontrol queries
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