 "Bombay HC asks Lodha brothers to mediate, resolve trademark dispute")
The Bombay High Court (HC) on Monday asked billionaire real estate tycoons, Abhishek Lodha and Abhinandan Lodha, to seek mediation to resolve the dispute over the trademark ‘Lodha’.
The single-judge bench of Justice Arif Doctor asked if any genuine effort has been made to resolve the dispute and suggested that a retired chief justice of India, along with another senior member, can be appointed for mediation if both the parties agree upon the same.
The mediation will be time bound and last not more than two weeks, Justice Arif Doctor said.
Macrotech Developers’ counsel Darius Khambata told the court that they were not against mediation. However, he said the House of Abhinandan Lodha (HoABL) and related entities must stop using the trademark “Lodha” till the mediation is pending.
A spokesperson for Abhinandan Lodha-owned Lodha Ventures said that they will go by the advice of the Bombay High Court.
The court has asked both parties to inform if they are willing to accept mediation on January 28.
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Earlier this month, Macrotech Developers had filed the suit before the Bombay HC against HoABL over the use of the name “Lodha”, seeking Rs 5,000 crore in damages.
During the firm’s earnings call on Monday, before the hearing, Abhishek Lodha stated that this is a very painful matter for him personally because Abhinandan Lodha is his younger brother.
“I have always wished him very well and I hope that even going forward, he continues to be successful in all fields that he operates in, including real estate,” he added.
He further said, “Our focus as a company right now is to ensure that our consumers are not confused in any manner with respect to the fact that they are dealing with which company, and Lodha, the company which has over 40 years built a strong brand on the back of its track record of delivery and performance and integrity, should not be confused with any other brand, whether belonging to Abhinandan Lodha or any other third party. This is the basic fundamental of the dispute. It is a matter which is before the Bombay High Court and it can take a few months or even longer to get resolved.”
Abhishek also informed that the matter has no ongoing impact on his company’s operational performance.
Macrotech posts Rs 940 cr profit
Macrotech Developers posted a profit after tax of Rs 940 crore for the third quarter of the financial year (Q3FY25), up 66 per cent year-on-year. During the quarter, the company managed to reduce its net debt by Rs 610 crore to Rs 4,310 crore. Its revenue from operations stood at around Rs 4,080 crore, up 39 per cent Y-o-Y.