Re/Max Intern., Inc. v. Trendsetter Realty, LLC
| Decision Date | 03 September 2009 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. H-07-2426. |
| Parties | RE/MAX INTERNATIONAL, INC., Plaintiff, v. TRENDSETTER REALTY, LLC, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Texas |
Anthony Frank Matheny, Greenberg Traurig LLP, Houston, TX, Gayle L. Strong, Greenberg Traurig LLP, John R. Posthumus, Denver, CO, for Plaintiff.
Mayur M. Patel, Mayur M. Patel, P.C., Houston, TX, for Defendants.
RE/MAX International, Inc., brought this trademark infringement suit against Trend Setter Realty, LLC, one of its competitors in the real estate brokerage industry. RE/MAX also sued Pavnouty Abraham, Trend Setter's registered agent, director, and president, and Deborah Miller, a former RE/MAX real estate agent who is now Trend Setter's broker of record. RE/MAX has moved for partial summary judgment on its federal and state trademark infringement and unfair competition claims against all the defendants and on its breach of contract claim against Miller. (Docket Entry Nos. 44, 45). RE/MAX also seeks cancellation of Trend Setter's registered trademark on the ground that it causes confusion with RE/MAX's registered trademarks. Finally, RE/MAX moves for summary judgment dismissing the defendants' counterclaim for cancellation of RE/MAX's registered mark. (Id.).
The defendants have filed a response. (Docket Entry No. 55). Because the defendants missed the deadline to respond, they have also filed a motion for extension. (Docket Entry No. 50). Finally, they have filed a motion for leave to amend their original answer to RE/MAX's complaint. (Docket Entry No. 51). RE/MAX opposes both motions. (Docket Entry Nos. 58, 59).
After careful review of the motions, responses, and replies; the record; and the relevant law, this court: (1) grants defendants' motion to extend the deadline to file their response to RE/MAX's summary judgment motion; (2) denies the defendants' motion for leave to amend their complaint; (3) grants RE/MAX's motion for partial summary judgment and RE/MAX's claim for cancellation of the mark registered as No. 3,222,708; and (4) denies the defendants' claim for cancellation of the mark registered as No. 1,702,048.
No later than September 18, 2009, the parties must advise the court of any remaining issues and propose a timetable for resolving them or submit a proposed final judgment.
The reasons for these rulings are explained below.
RE/MAX is a corporation that has provided real estate brokerage services through a network of franchisees and affiliated independent contractors and sales associates since the early 1970s. (Docket Entry No. 46 at ¶ 6, 7). Trend Setter is a limited liability company with offices in Houston and San Antonio. It has provided real estate brokerage services in the Houston area since around April 1, 2005. (Docket Entry No. 45-11 at 12, 13). Defendant Pavnouty Abraham founded Trend Setter in early 2005 and remains its sole owner. (Docket Entry Nos. 45-10 at 44, 45-11 at 12, 13). Abraham is responsible for marketing and promoting Trend Setter's services to those interested in buying or selling real estate. (Docket Entry No. 45-8, at 8-9). Defendant Deborah Miller is currently the broker of record, or sponsoring broker, for Trend Setter. (Docket Entry No. 45-10 at 9, 42-44). She joined Trend Setter after working as a real estate agent with several firms, including two separate RE/MAX franchises. (Id. at 14-21).
RE/MAX holds several federal trademark registrations for service marks. . All the marks feature a rectangular design consisting of three equally spaced horizontal bars. The top bar is red, the middle bar is white, and the bottom bar is blue. Some of RE/MAX's marks also contain other words and/or design elements, the most well-known of which is the red, white, and blue RE/MAX hot-air balloon. (Id.). This suit involves three federal marks, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,691,854 (registered on June 9, 1992), No. 1,702,048 (registered on July 21, 1992), and No. 1,720,592 (registered on Sep. 29, 1992), and one state mark, Texas State Trademark Registration No. 55729 (registered on June 5, 1996). (Id., Exs. A, B). RE/MAX's Registration No. 1,691,854 and No. 1,720,592 have the three horizontal red, white, and blue bars in the rectangular design and a slanted red, white, and blue hot-air balloon in the top left corner. (Id., Ex. A). The trademark application claims that these marks were first used in commerce in October 1979. (Id.) RE/MAX's federal Trademark Registration No. 1,702,048 has the three red-over-white-over-blue horizontal bars without a balloon. (Id.) This mark was first used in commerce on January 1, 1974. (Id.) RE/MAX's Texas Registration No. 55729 also has the red-over-white-over-blue horizontal bars without a balloon. (Docket Entry No. 45, Exhibit B). RE/MAX's service marks are registered for use in conjunction with providing real estate brokerage and insurance brokerage services. (Id., Exs. A, B).
Since as early as 1974, RE/MAX and its affiliates have provided real estate brokerage services in the United States using the RE/MAX service marks. (Docket Entry No. 46 at ¶ 7). RE/MAX brokers and associates use these marks on a variety of advertising media—including yard signs, business cards, newspapers and other print media, Internet web sites, hot-air balloons, brochures, banners, and other advertising items—to identify themselves as associated with the RE/MAX franchise. (Id. at ¶ 8). RE/MAX has invested billions of dollars developing and maintaining its marks in the United States and worldwide. (Id. at ¶ 9).2 RE/MAX affiliates have used "the RE/MAX Trademark" in connection with over 20 million real estates transactions around the world. (Id. at ¶ 10). RE/MAX has continuously operated using its trademark in the Houston area since 1979 and in the San Antonio area since 1984. (Id. at ¶ 12).
Trend Setter is the owner of U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,222,708, filed May 30, 2006 and issued on March 27, 2007. (Docket Entry No. 45-6). This trademark consists of a rectangular design with three parts. The top is red, the middle is white, and the bottom is blue. The middle white portion is in the shape of a stylized representation of a house. The top red portion would be a horizontal bar but for the protrusion of the white roof. The bottom blue portion is a straight horizontal bar. (Id.). The Trend Setter mark is registered for use in conjunction with real estate brokerage services. (Id.). Trend Setter's registration application stated that the first use was in December 1996 and the first use in commerce was in October 19, 1998. (Id.).
Pavnouty Abraham testified in his deposition that he first used the Trend Setter trademark as early as 1998, when he ordered ten red, white, and blue yard signs for his previous realty business, Realty, Etc. (Docket Entry No. 45-11 at 126-129, Ex. 3). In March 2005, Abraham started a new real estate brokerage service, Trend Setter Realty, which opened its Houston location on April 1, 2005. (Docket Entry No. 45-11 at 12-13). Abraham hired Deborah Miller as Trend Setter's broker of record. (Id. at 109, 110). By the end of 2005, Trend Setter had between 150 and 200 agents. (Docket Entry 45-11 at 241). By mid-2008, Trend Setter had approximately 700 agents. (Id.).
Since it opened in April 2005, Trend Setter agents have used the red, white, and blue mark with the stylized house shape in the center to identify the real estate agency to current and potential clients. Trend Setter has used the mark in various advertising media, including real estate yard signs, brochures, fliers, home listings, and newspaper advertisements, as well as on its website, http://www.trend setterrealty.com. (Docket Entry No. 45-8 at 8). The Trend Setter yard signs contain the red, white, and blue Trend Setter design with the words "For Sale" on the red top portion, the listing agent's name and phone number on the bottom blue bar, and the name "Trend Setter" in bold across the white portion. (Docket Entry No. 55 at 5).
Abraham met Miller in the mid-1990s. (Docket Entry No. 45-10 at 38). During the 1990s, Miller worked as a sales associate at various real estate firms, including two RE/MAX franchises, in the Houston area. (Id. at 15-21). As a RE/MAX sales affiliate, Miller used RE/MAX service marks on RE/MAX yard signs with her name on them when she listed homes for sale. (Docket Entry No. 45-10 at 15-21, 41-42). Around 2000, while Miller was still a RE/MAX agent, she listed four or five houses on Abraham's behalf using her RE/MAX yard sign. (Docket Entry No. 45-10 at 41-42). When Abraham began Trend Setter, he employed Miller as his broker of record. Miller, testified that she left RE/MAX on about February 28, 2005 to become the "jack of all trades" at Trend Setter. (Docket Entry No. 45-10 at 9).
When she worked at RE/MAX Elite, a RE/MAX franchise, Miller entered into an Independent Contractor Agreement ("ICA") that allowed her to use RE/MAX's service marks during her employment but stipulated that after her employment ended, she would stop using any of RE/MAX's "distinguishing characteristics," including RE/MAX's service marks, trademarks, designs, slogans, logos, lawn signs, "color combinations and style," and "other advertising copy now or hereafter displayed, used or becoming a part of the RE/MAX business." (Docket Entry No. 45, Ex. D). When Miller left RE/MAX in February 2005, her contractual obligations to cease using the RE/MAX marks began. RE/MAX Elite has assigned its rights in the ICA to RE/MAX, including the right to bring suit to enforce the ICA. (Docket Entry Nos. 45-9, 46 at ¶ 15).
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