Re/Max says local agency's logo too similar to its own
It's big guy vs. little guy
By Katy Stech
Reader poll
Do you think the Re/Max and Rehava names and logos look similar?
- Yes 1% 221 votes
- No 98% 15763 votes
15984 total votes.
A dispute has erupted over a trademark request filed by Rehava Real Estate Store, a small agency in North Charleston.
Re/Max, a national real estate franchise, is challenging the agency's filing, saying the Rehava name and logo design are too similar to its own.
Rehava said it sees little if any resemblance.
"When I first got this case, I went back and double-checked to make sure I had the right file because they don't even look similar to me," said Rehava attorney Doug Kim.
Adam Scoville, Re/Max's legal counsel, said he can explain.
First of all, both names start with "r" and have logos with accent lines near the letter "e," he said.
"It goes beyond that," Scoville added. "If you chop the top off of the 'h,' you (almost) have the 'm' in Re/Max. The next letter is an 'a,' and if you take the 'v' then you have half of an 'x.' "
Steve deGuzman, Rehava's broker-in-charge, said he doesn't buy it. He said the trademark challenge is harassment and a form of corporate bullying that will cost his firm thousands of dollars.
"It's a huge distraction, particularly for a startup and also in this kind of a market," deGuzman said.
He suspects the Colorado-based franchise is challenging the trademarkbecause of Rehava's controversial commission rebates, which some in the industry see as a threat to traditional compensation standards.
Rehava's commission structure stemmed from a 2006 change in state law that allowed real estate agents to offer rebates to home buyers.
The U.S. Justice Department has pushed for similar changes across the country.
Rehava promises to give back half of its commission to buyers at the closing table, which could result in a return of several thousand dollars.
"I think they did it because they're worried about the future of real estate, and they really know that we might be onto something," deGuzman said.
"Anything they could do to slow us down would be to their advantage."
Scoville denies that their complaint has anything to do with Rehava's business model.
"We don't want someone offering the same services with a confusingly similar mark," Scoville said. "We're happy to compete with them, we just don't want to do it with a trademark similar to Re/Max."
Since Rehava opened last summer, it has received some nasty feedback, mostly from veteran agents who were not aware of the change in state law, deGuzman said.
One agent even filed a grievance against the company with the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors.
Rehava filed its trademark application last spring.
Officials at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office checked their records to make sure the Rehava name wasn't too similar to existing trademark names, which they later determined it wasn't.
Last fall the federal agency posted its findings, giving outsiders the opportunity to object before the trademark was finalized.
That's when Re/Max filed its formal complaint.
The patent office's trademark trial and appeal board will likely make a determination in the case in the spring of 2010.
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gococks1985 (anonymous) says...
Remax appears to be doing very well if they can do this. 1. The logo's look NOTHING alike....in fact you may want to FIRE the person that thinks they do. 2. Taking this to a legal level when it's very obvious that..they look NOTHING alike.
REMAX- You are paying this Adam person way too much money to explain why the logo's are similar. Geesh...get a life remax!!!
March 7, 2009 at 4:50 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
hateimperialist (anonymous) says...
Sham, sham, sham on you REMAX. Go back to selling homes not BS. Oh wait a minute your not selling homes, well get back to doing whatever it is you do.
March 7, 2009 at 5:35 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
studley (anonymous) says...
Sounds like Remax needs some Exlax!
March 7, 2009 at 6:27 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
realintheus (anonymous) says...
This is pure foolishnessssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 7, 2009 at 6:28 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
katsplay (anonymous) says...
"It goes beyond that," Scoville added. "If you chop the top off of the 'h,' you (almost) have the 'm' in Re/Max. The next letter is an 'a,' and if you take the 'v' then you have half of an 'x.' "
If you have to do ALL of that, then they don't look very similar!
March 7, 2009 at 6:29 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
justmyview (anonymous) says...
Maybe with the recessions and downturn of business, Remax is trying to eliminate a competitor.
March 7, 2009 at 6:46 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
CMR (anonymous) says...
Absolutely ridiculous dispute.
The RE/MAX attorney must be a crackhead!
"If you chop the top off of the 'h,' you (almost) have the 'm' in Re/Max. The next letter is an 'a,' and if you take the 'v' then you have half of an 'x.' "
Say what???
March 7, 2009 at 7:44 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
abitskeptical (anonymous) says...
The logos are so dissimilar that at 1st I didn't even notice the rehava logo & thought the P&C failed to put the rehava logo for comparison. (I did notice it after looking for it)
This must be about squashing all threatening competition.
Makes me think ReMax is less than honorable. I'd never do business with them now for fear of sleazy business practices.
March 7, 2009 at 8:01 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cinnabar (anonymous) says...
I've always thought re-max has the most outdated logo ever...Who would want to copy that?
March 7, 2009 at 8:16 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
CaptPete (anonymous) says...
What a joke. They don't look alike.
March 7, 2009 at 8:37 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
1963 (anonymous) says...
"It goes beyond that," Scoville added. "If you chop the top off of the 'h,' you (almost) have the 'm' in Re/Max. The next letter is an 'a,' and if you take the 'v' then you have half of an 'x.' "
I don't see it! They are using the "if" word, "if", "if", "if. There is just no real similarity here. You could say "if" to any word in the english language to try and make a comparison. Gosh, we only have 26 characters in out alphabet.
March 7, 2009 at 8:52 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
abitskeptical (anonymous) says...
Not to mention one logo uses all upper case letters while the other uses all lower case.
What a waste of time.
March 7, 2009 at 9:35 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
westashleyboi (anonymous) says...
The real estate PTB have it out for this comapany.
The National Association of Realators didn't like this ad by Rehava either. Check it out and judge for yourself.
http://hookusa.wordpress.com/2009/02/...
Charleston Regional Business Journal has a related article.
http://www.charlestonbusiness.com/new...
The traditional real estate sales model has had no small part in the recent unjustified run-up in home prices. Home buyers and sellers are receptive to a new way of doing business.
March 7, 2009 at 9:36 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
amembersid (anonymous) says...
How many companies start with Charleston or Carolina. What a waste of time and money. 'Me thinks Re/max would waste me money'.
March 7, 2009 at 10:12 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
tjeffrey (anonymous) says...
Is Re/Max kidding? The logos do not look anything alike. The basis of this claim is most likely over fact that rehava is doing what Re/Max won't, giving half of their commission back to the home buyer. The internet has greatly changed the way homes are bought and sold. rehava recognizes this and has a developed new real estate model that greatly benefits consumers by reducing what people pay to sell homes and rewarding buyers with rebates when they buy homes.
March 7, 2009 at 10:40 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
JonWithnal (anonymous) says...
They don't look similar.
March 7, 2009 at 4:27 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
lameduck (anonymous) says...
GetSerious, you need to learn to spell and check grammar to get serious and to be taken seriously be others.
March 7, 2009 at 6:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
wythe124 (anonymous) says...
Have you heard of a frivolous lawsuit? Sort of like when an inmate sues because he doesnt like the toilet paper the prison gives him!!!! and the basis for this lawsuit is sort of like the stuff that paper helps clean up!!
March 7, 2009 at 6:40 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
westashleyboi (anonymous) says...
Just did a quick search for Re/ Max lawsuit. It seems they have been very busy lately with meritless trademark lawsuits.
IMHO either they are using these lawsuits to punish their competition or Adam Scovill and Greenberg Traurig LLP are just making busywork for themselves and charging ReMax for it.
They have recent trademark infringement lawsuits against at least these companies: RSN Media, CitiMaxx, SaveMax, INCO Commercial Reality, and Stratton Industrial Reality.
I looked at the CitiMaxx and SaveMax logos and they are nothing like the Re/Max logo.
They have also sued LendingTree in 2004 (settled), Emax Reality in 2004 (they lost, the court found that the have no specific rights to the word "max" which is an abbreviation of the word maximum.)
In 2001 they sued Ebay for using a for sale sign with red white and blue colors in a commercial.
WOW, they have even sued Mel Brooks. Apparently, the did not not like their portrayal as the malevolent corporation Engulf and Devour in "The Silent Movie."
Give it a rest guys.
I think Rehava has a good case to prove this is a "sham" lawsuit.
March 7, 2009 at 11:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cwittiker (anonymous) says...
As an ex Remax agent, I can say with authority the commission argument by the defendant is flawed. Remax does not take a piece of the commission fee as most agencies do. They simple charge a monthly franchise fee to the agents. The remax model is a straight recruiting model.
I suspect this is related to something else.
March 8, 2009 at 6:53 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
coolfreaknbeans (anonymous) says...
Great info westashleyboi, as usual. These logos look nothing alike. I think their filing all of these ridiculous to compensate for the crappy market. Why not drive out and bully all of the competition?
March 8, 2009 at 7:39 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
westashleyboi (anonymous) says...
Good job Katy Stech, your article on this Re/Max lawsuit is going viral and picking up speed.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/...
http://activerain.com/blogsview/97247...
http://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/...
The quote you got from Scoville is classic. Apparently, this type of lawsuit is a common tactic by large corporations to legally extort money from other businesses. The purpose of the lawsuits is to intimidate competitors and bleed them of money. They can also make money by getting companies with similar names to pay them a fee to continue using the name.
Monster Cables seems to be the most notorious by threatening lawsuits to many companies that use the word monster in their names even if they have nothing to do with A/V cables. Disney (Monsters INC movie), Monster Garage, Monster Vintage Clothing, and Monster Mini Golf among many others have suffered Monster Cables's wrath. Monster Mini Golf fought long and hard and finally slayed Monster with the sword of public opinion. The negative attention focused the buying public on Monster's products where they learned that Monster's cables were way overpriced and actually did not perform better than cheaper cables.
Here is a humorous letter sent to Monster from one company CEO they tried to sue. He told them where to go and they backed down.
http://www.audioholics.com/news/indus...
Re/Max is following the same gameplan as Monster and is going to suffer the same negative publicity fate. From my count they have filed 22 trademark related lawsuits since 2001 and there is no telling how many demand letters they have sent out.
http://dockets.justia.com/search?q=Re....
Re/Max doesn't appear to care what the courts think.
October 06, 2006
Court Issues Declaratory Judgment In Finding That The Word "Max" Is Not By Itself Protectable As A Trademark
http://www.iplegallounge.typepad.com/...
/10/in_a_fairly_str.html
Despite Fame of "RE/MAX," TTAB Finds No Likelihood of Confusion with "SAVEMAX REALTY"
http://thettablog.blogspot.com/2008/1...
I know the local Re/Max franchise is following this closely and is not liking the negative publicity When you send Re/Max international your next franchise fee, you might want to suggest they drop this lawsuit because you are the one that will suffer for their misdeed.
Steve deGuzman, don't let them break you and continue to use public opinion to halt this abuse.
March 9, 2009 at 1:54 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
LurkingVariable (anonymous) says...
"It goes beyond that," Scoville added. "If you chop the top off of the 'h,' you (almost) have the 'm' in Re/Max. The next letter is an 'a,' and if you take the 'v' then you have half of an 'x.' "
Well, that settles it. They don't pay lawyers for their smarts but for their ability to say things they know are stupid without cracking up.
This is not a "frivolous" lawsuit, this is a strategic lawsuit, similar to a SLAPP lawsuit (http://is.gd/n0es). "Winning the lawsuit is not necessarily the intent of the person filing the SLAPP. The plaintiff's goals are accomplished if the defendant succumbs to fear, intimidation, mounting legal costs or simple exhaustion and abandons the criticism. A SLAPP may also intimidate others from participating in the debate." In this case it's "competition" instead of "criticism", but the methods are the same.
March 12, 2009 at 12:48 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Wertan1237 (anonymous) says...
Being the Broker/Owner of a local Re/Max franchise, I know that Corporate had our best interest in mind as with any big company they are very protective of their trademarks. Re/Max is the # 1 Real Estate Company in the World and the one of the Most Recognized Companies with their trademarked balloon, signs, name, etc. Try copying Coke or Pepsi or another big companies name or look and they will file a lawsuit in a minute to protect their image. Re/Max spends a Billion dollars a year in promoting the brand and the remax.com website. In light of that though they have withdrawn their opposition to the Rehava Trademark registration. Here is a direct quote from Re/Max International RE/MAX International Withdraws Trademark Opposition:
(March 11, 2009 Denver, CO) This afternoon, RE/MAX International filed a document with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to withdraw any opposition to the trademark registration of rÄhava Real Estate Store.
RE/MAX International has always sought to protect its brand and logo in the name of all its franchisees and affiliates. In this case, local RE/MAX Broker/Owners and Affiliates felt that no conflict or threat existed.
Considering their opinion and public response, RE/MAX International decided that the best course of action was to drop opposition to the rÄhava trademark.
RE/MAX has become a distinguished real estate leader after 36 years of competition in the marketplace. Competition has made the organization what it is today and competition will continue to result in success into the future.
RE/MAX recognizes that real estate competition in Charleston will benefit the public interest of the entire community.
March 15, 2009 at 5:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
joebelize (anonymous) says...
The 200+ that voted yes... must work at Remax. Visit www.remaxlawsuits.com where Remax takes someone elses trademark and does NOT think there is any possible confusion.
March 28, 2009 at 12:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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