Seattle Trademark Lawyer

Champions Real Estate Services, Inc., will stop using “Realtor” in connection with its real estate sales offices.

Its stipulating to a permanent injunction cut short a trial in the Western District that would have decided the National Association of Realtors’ trademark infringement lawsuit against Champions and its owners, who ended their relationship with the Association but continued to use the group’s registered trademark, REALTOR.

Champions has offices throughout western Washington.

Defendant Patricia Lord, one of Champions’ owners and its designated broker, admitted in the stipulation that she told the agents she managed that “Any real estate agent may use and be called ‘Realtor’ whether or not you are a member of the Board of Realtors” and “All real estate agents are Realtors.” She also acknowledged that she referred to herself as a “Realtor” on her Twitter account and a Google profile page as recently as this month.

The stipulated injunction — entered on the second day of trial — may have avoided a showdown as to whether REALTOR is generic for real estate agents, a claim Ms. Lord previously made. However, the state of that defense was not clear (to STL, at least) given the court’s recent decision on summary judgment.

On Aug. 22, Western District Judge James Robart granted partial summary judgment in the Association’s favor, finding Champions and Ms. Lord secondarily liable for the trademark infringement and false designations of origin committed by their agents. In doing so, the court concluded that the Association’s REALTOR marks are “strong.”

The court entered judgment in favor of the Association on Sept. 13.

STL post on the Association’s complaint here.

The case cite is National Association of Realtors v. Champions Real Estate Services Inc., No. 10-0049 (W.D. Wash.) (Robart, J.).