RE/Max loses logo fight with Rehava
Rehava, a small brokerage based in South Carolina, (featured in 2008 in an article on Inman News) recently got into a dustup with RE/Max, the national franchisor, over its logo.
Last week, RE/Max challenged Rehava’s trademark filing, and claimed the brand was too similar to its own.
In an article in the Charleston Post and Courier, RE/Max’s legal counsel Adam Scoville explained the rationale this way:
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.’ “
Clearly, anyone looking at the two logos would be hard pressed to find the similarity and any allegations of trademark infringement on that basis border on the ridiculous.
Rather, Rehava’s owner Steve deGuzman suspects that the challenge was issued because of his company’s controversial rebate program, which may have been perceived as a threat to RE/Max’s traditional commission model.
“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.”
This is an experience that the folks at Redfin can no doubt empathize with. That company suffered similar hurdles when they first launched.
In any case, the issue drew outrage from the online community on blogs, Twitter and in online comments and today RE/Max, perhaps sensing the blowback, dropped its suit (see ReMax Withdraws Logo Suit Against rehava).
We will probably never know the true motivations behind the legal challenge, but one thing is clear; in this day and age, the community will ultimately hold you accountable for your actions and these types of uncompetitive actions do very little to help your brand’s credibility in the eyes of consumers.
Mike Rohrig | Mar 12, 2009 | Reply
I worked for RE/MAX, and the only logo I can think of is the balloon. I don’t know what tree they were barking up except to give a smaller brokerage trouble. Lame.
Overland Park Real Estate | Mar 12, 2009 | Reply
That is pretty ridiculous. Nothing more important to do right now?
Tony Sena | Mar 12, 2009 | Reply
I still can’t believe they filed a suit in the first place. They tried to flex their muscles and got called out!
Norm Fisher | Mar 12, 2009 | Reply
“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.’ “
Hmmm, I can see this lawyer’s concern. My company, Royal LePage, also starts with an R. Clearly, this has the potential to be confusing, especially considering that my firm also uses e’s and a’s in our name. Start flipping and removing letters and I don’t know who the hell I’m working for.
Remax is completely committed when it comes to protecting their trademarks. I recall a number of years back that a fsbo had a sign done with red, white and blue bands. I believe they were organized differently than the Remax signs. The seller received a cease and desist letter from Denver within days and the sign was soon removed. All that said, a good trademark is definitely worth protecting and there are few trademarks that meet the level of “good” like the Remax logo.
Mike,
The other Remax logo can be seen at the upper left of this site.
http://www.remax.ca/
Laguna Niguel Real Estate | Mar 13, 2009 | Reply
Logo theft has long been a tradition. I wonder why can’t they afford a quality logo agency…
Chris Dowell | Mar 13, 2009 | Reply
RE/Max needs think about their actions. I have read this everywhere. Maybe they should invest in a spell check program.
I guess I’m protected, my company does not start with an R. We do use a logo that has red, blue and white. Whoops there I go . . .
Ginnie | Mar 15, 2009 | Reply
I hope that Rehava is making good use of all this free publicity. That was awfully generous of RE/Max to give the little guy a leg up like that.
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Prince William Homes for Sale | May 19, 2009 | Reply
Thank you for putting this all together. You did a wonderful job, and your points are well taken. I have not heard of this one.
homes Alexandria VA | Nov 26, 2009 | Reply
I would love to see a gopy of each logo side by side. So much of this is nonsense.