Trademark Infringement to the Max: Trademark Protection Extended to Yard Signs

Re/Max International Inc. of Denver, one of the world’s largest residential real estate brokerage companies, has won some major decisions in a trademark infringement lawsuit it filed in a Texas federal court.

Judge Lee Rosenthal in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in Houston ruled in September that Texas real estate brokerage firm Trend Setter Realty LLC’s for-sale yard signs and other marketing materials infringe on Re/Max’s trademarked red-over-white-over-blue so-called “horizontal bar design,” Re/Max said Thursday.

“A real estate yard sign is intended to catch the attention of people driving past. … In this context, the color and dominant design … can communicate a source to consumers viewing the signs from a distance, or while passing,” the court’s initial decision said.

Following the initial order the court recently issued an injunction that granted Re/Max’s request that Trend Setter and its agents be prohibited from using signs, business cards, advertising and other materials that resemble Re/Max’s design.

The orders foretell the beginning of the end of the 2007 suit filed in 2007 against Trend Setter, which has 700 agents at offices in Houston and San Antonio, which claimed that the firm was infringing on the Denver firm’s trademarked sign colors and design. Re/Max International further alleged in the suit that Trend Setter violated a contractor agreement that a broker/owner at the Texas firm had with the Re/Max Elite franchise, which she left to help launch Trend Setter.

The Trademark Company