LendingTree has incurred the wrath of another large worldwide franchise organization. RE/MAX has joined Century 21, Coldwell Banker and ERA in suing Lending Tree for trademark infringement.

According to the nine-count complaint, filed in United States District Court, LendingTree.com is accused of "various claims under Federal and state law including, among others, trademark infringement, unfair competition, and the making of false and misleading statements in violation of the Colorado Consumer Protection Act."

According to RE/MAX International's Senior Vice President and general counsel Steve Squeri, efforts to resolve the dispute informally failed, resulting in legal action.

"We're pursuing litigation because we believe it is an important assertion of our rights," says Squeri, "and we would resolve this without litigation, if the terms were right."

Like the franchise brands Coldwell Banker, ERA and Century 21, under the corporate Cendant umbrella, RE/MAX is upset over the implied relationship between LendingTree and the franchise brands that Lending Tree recognizes on its site as being the brands that the LendingTree network of brokers represent.

The LendingTree Website lists a "National Network of Realtors(r)", that includes the Cendant brands, GMAC, Realty Executives, Prudential and "well-known independent local brokers."

LendingTree is a referral fee-based company which supplies leads to lenders and Realtors. The complaint charges that LendingTree is "improperly using the valuable goodwill and reputation of the RE/MAX trademark in order to lure consumers into using its real estate agent referral service. In addition, the complaint alleges that LendingTree's website creates the false impression that LendingTree represents the entire RE/MAX network and that RE/MAX and other major real estate franchisors have somehow aligned themselves with each other to create an agent locator service operated by LendingTree."

Further, RE/MAX also alleges that, "while improperly exploiting the goodwill and reputation of the RE/MAX trademark in order to attract business, LendingTree has, at times, referred consumers to non-RE/MAX agents or brokers despite specific requests from consumers for a RE/MAX agent and despite the fact that RE/MAX agents are available in the market areas identified by the consumers."

Dave Liniger, chairman and co-founder of RE/MAX International said, "We have thirty years invested in building the outstanding goodwill and reputation attached to our RE/MAX trademark. We owe it to ourselves, and to all of our affiliates in the RE/MAX family, to prevent others from making improper use of our trademark and trading off the goodwill we have all worked hard to establish. The need to act is even greater here since, as the complaint alleges, consumers are being misled in the process."

LendingTree declines comment to Realty Times, but it can be assumed that the company feels the same way it did when the Cendant brands' filed their lawsuit against LendingTree.

At the time, spokesperson Deborah Roth said, "Our lawyers are hard at work and intend to vigorously defend Cendant's ill-founded claims. By its actions, Cendant has revealed that it is intent on doing whatever it can to interfere with and destabilize Lending Tree's growing business relationships with our partners, and its unfounded lawsuit was filed in pursuit of its improper objective. We believe that Cendant does not understand the value that the Internet can add to our partners' business and is threatened by the early innovation and success of our business partnership."

When asked if this declaration is suggestive of a possible counter-suit with anti-trust at issue, Roth responded, "We have no specific comment on the litigation."

RE/MAX is seeking triple damages under Federal and state trademark laws, in addition to attorney and court fees, and punitive damages under state common law.

Published: September 9, 2003

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