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National Association Alleges Local Real Estate Agents Wrongly Use the "R" Word

Not all real estate agents are REALTORS.

That’s the gist of the lawsuit the National Association of Realtors filed in the Western District on Jan. 8 against Champions Real Estate Services Inc. and a number of individuals.

The Association alleges the defendants “continue to represent themselves as REALTORS without authorization” and use the Association’s registered trademarks to describe themselves to the public.

The Association says it asked the defendants to cease and desist from using their marks but the defendants responded by denying the Association’s trademark rights.

The Association says a number of its marks date back to 1916 and are incontestable, including REALTOR and REALTORS.

Defendants have not yet answered the complaint.

The case cite is National Association of Realtors v. Champions Real Estate Services Inc., No. 10-049 (W.D. Wash.).

Posted on January 12, 2010 by Registered CommenterMichael Atkins | Comments4 Comments

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Reader Comments (4)

Even though they've been running ads to try to prevent it, I gotta say that Realtor = real estate agent in today's lexicon. This should be held generic.
January 13, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterKurt
I agree with Kurt. Does the NAR spokesman not realize that incontestability doesn't extend to genericness? If they file a lawsuit, they can count on a genericness counterclaim, and I'm not sure they could survive it.
January 13, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterBob Cumbow
Obviously Kurt and Bob aren't Realtors. The gist of the comparisons is that Realtors prescribe to a set of ethical standards that they can be held accountable to . A real estate agent has no such guidelines. I have always distinguished the two.
February 22, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterYana K. Mathis
Since the case is not confidential, I would be happy to share our side of the story which really was not allowed, due to missed filings by our first attorney. Let the recoreds speak for themselves, as there was no intent to use others trademarks, it was believed we were members during the use period.We canceled our membership and a few brokers accidentially missed marks that should have been removed. There never should have been a case, as it was a waste of time and money for all.
September 19, 2011 | Unregistered CommenterPat Lord

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