ReMax Sues LendingTree

One month to the day after IAC/InterActiveCorp (formerly known as USA Interactive) announced the completion of its acquisition of LendingTree Inc., RE/Max International filed a lawsuit against LendingTree alleging trademark infringement, unfair competition, and exploitation of its goodwill.The nine-count complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court in Denver, further alleges that the Charlotte, N.C.-based LendingTree used its website to make misleading statements about its relationship with RE/Max brokers. RE/Max, the international real estate agent and broker network, said LendingTree's site was misleading in that it led consumers to believe that the company was working with the entire RE/Max network. Furthermore, the complaint alleges that LendingTree.com "creates the false impression 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." LendingTree.com does feature a real estate agent locator service on its homepage that purports to give consumers access to national companies such as Coldwell Banker, Century 21, GMAC, and RE/Max, as well as independent local Realtors. RE/Max alleges that LendingTree has "at times, referred consumers to non-RE/Max agents or brokers despite specific requests from consumers for a RE/Max agent." The companies can be found online at http://www.lendingtree.com and http://www.remax.com.