All you need to know about the Battle of the Lodhas

Companies led by Mangal Prabhat Lodha’s sons Abhishek Lodha and Abhinandan Lodha are embroiled in a legal battle. Abhishek Lodha-led Macrotech Developers Ltd, a listed real estate giant, has accused Abhinandan Lodha’s The House of Abhinandan Lodha (HoABL) and other companies of multiple violations; HoABL has refuted the claims, emphasising its distinct business model and operations in separate locations.

The Macrotech Lawsuit

In its lawsuit filed in the Bombay High Court last week, Macrotech has alleged various violations by entities related to Abhinandan Lodha-led companies, including trademark infringement, misinformation, agreement violations, consumer confusion and misleading practices, and unlawful registration.

Macrotech says that the defendants’ acts of infringement and passing off of the ‘Lodha’ trademark have caused financial losses of more than ₹5,000 crore to the group; the losses would increase further if the defendants were permitted to continue with their actions, the group claims.

Macrotech has also sought urgent injunctions to prevent the defendants’ further use of the ‘Lodha’ name and the removal of references to the brand from all their materials. “Defendant(s) have been using the ‘Lodha’ trademark and similar/derivative names/marks about their business, especially their real estate business, and in communications made by them with the public, flagrantly infringing the ‘Lodha’ trademark to financially benefit from the hard-earned reputation of plaintiffs associated with the ‘Lodha’ trademark,” the lawsuit states.

The company alleged that Abhinandan Lodha and entities related to him (HoABL) are engaged in the real estate business, including plots and proposed high-rise developments in Mumbai, and are creating confusion in consumers’ minds. “HoABL is marketing their business in a manner which is deceptively similar and/or identical to our widely known and highly valuable brand name of ‘Lodha’ and ‘Lodha Group’. We have been approached by numerous customers in relation to their issues/queries with HoABL, evidencing the deliberate confusion being created amongst stakeholders through HoABL’s marketing & communication,” says the company. Macrotech says it must protect its intellectual property rights (IPR) and ensure that no other developer creates confusion of being similar to or same as its 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.”

According to the company, the brands ‘Lodha’ and ‘Lodha Group’ have been built with “substantial investment and effort over 40 years” and are amongst the “select highly valued brands” in the real estate industry in the country. “Our brand ethos is synonymous with highest quality standards, timely delivery of commitments, long-term trust in our product spanning over decades, and depicts superior governance standards in the minds of various stakeholders associated with it, including consumers,” says the company.

Abhinandan’s Response

The House of Abhinandan Lodha, in its response, has said that Abhinandan Lodha continues to have full faith and believes that all the commitments his parents and brother have made to him will be fulfilled. The company has alleged violations of “corporate governance or shareholder” norms by Macrotech, saying it borrowed multiple times from HoABL companies between 2017 and 2020.

“By 2019, Macrotech was under severe funds crunch and the premium on their international bonds spiralled, signalling an imminent default,” says HoABL, adding that Abhishek and Macrotech Developers Ltd approached Abhinandan. “…he gave loans in aggregate amounting to over ₹900 crore, while the peak outstanding at any given point in time was ₹175 crore from his two companies Lodha Finserv and Lodha Ventures to Macrotech Developers Ltd. He was constantly requested to help out and he worked tirelessly to refinance and help Macrotech until as recent as 2019–2020 as bankers had refused to lend further to Macrotech without Abhinandan’s involvement with his company’s corporate guarantees of ₹250 crore, continuing personal guarantees of ₹5,500 crore. He further even mortgaged his flat and raised funds to support Macrotech. This is all a matter of record.”

HoABL says that for a publicly listed company to borrow multiple times from an entity (HoABL), request and use corporate guarantee for its loans and now raise the issue of name confusion does not augur well for its corporate governance or shareholders. “If at all, it shows total disregard for any prudent sense of disclosure.”

The company says he (Abhinandan Lodha) has fulfilled his obligations, including transferring his shareholding and helping the business as and when requested. “He continues to believe that family matters should not be settled in public,” the company says in its official statement on the matter.

On the latest allegations by Macrotech, HoABL says it is in the plotted land business and as such its product is different from what Macrotech offers. “We are largely not present in the locations where their projects are on offer. Our customers are largely very well educated and well informed, a few of them are top Bollywood and other celebrities, some of whom have professional managers to understand the difference between the different brands, what they are buying, from whom and the purpose for which they are buying.”

Abhinandan Lodha re-started his real estate journey in 2021 when he created the ‘The House of Abhinandan Lodha’. HoABL, a registered trademark since 2021, says in the past four years, the company has developed projects across 16 locations, “sold 12 million sq. ft and have another 38 million sq. ft under development”.

On the similarity between brands, HoABL says there are “multiple Raheja family companies or the Hiranandanis” in the real estate business, owned by different family members and cousins operating in Mumbai itself, and there are other such examples across different industries as well. “In addition, ours is an online-only model and we are perhaps only one (entity) across Asia, if not globally, to offer our plotted land only across the screen and we have never met any of our 7,000 customers in person until the registration of the documents, which in itself indicates high-level trust and good corporate governance. So, this argument about confusing customers is a farce,” the HoABL spokesperson says.

The Genesis of the Dispute

The dispute dates back to 2015 when the two brothers decided to split the family’s realty empire The Lodha Group, earlier helmed by their father and politician Mangal Prabhat Lodha. Elder brother Abhishek got control of the flagship business under Macrotech Developers. Younger brother Abhinandan got Lodha Ventures and Lodha Finserv, which were new businesses under the group. It took them two years to finalise the split, which also outlined terms and conditions for both companies, including the use of intellectual properties and a non-compete clause.

The settlement was reached with an understanding that the “Lodha” name would not be used on a standalone basis in real estate. Between 2015 and 2017, multiple family settlement agreements and arbitration awards were passed by a sole arbitrator appointed by the family.

As the two business groups started operating separately, several issues emerged, and the split terms were restructured in December 2023. The revised terms also set conditions for the usage of the trademark “Lodha”. The issue emerged again in September 2024, when the Abhishek Lodha-led group alleged trademark violations by the Abhinandan-led group.

Meanwhile, the current case will be presented before Justice Arif Doctor, who will hear the petition on January 27, according to Bar & Bench, a legal news platform.