Homebuilder alters marketing campaign after trademark suit

By Steve Green

Friday, June 12, 2009 | 10:54 a.m.

Beazer Homes USA Inc. appears to have modified a marketing campaign after being hit with a trademark infringement lawsuit by competitor Pardee Homes.

Pardee, based in Los Angeles, competes with Atlanta-based Beazer in Southern Nevada and Southern California.

Pardee sued Beazer in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas on Monday, but court papers show that the court was informed Wednesday that the case had been settled.

A Pardee spokeswoman could not be reached for comment on the case, but Beazer spokeswoman Leslie Kratcoski said the matter had been settled. She had no further details.

Pardee, a subsidiary of Weyerhaeuser Real Estate Co., said in its lawsuit that in 2002 it started using the "Living Smart" slogan in its marketing efforts and later registered that and related trademarks including "Smart Solutions," "Eco-Smart Living," "WaterSmart," "EarthSmart" and "HealthSmart."

Pardee alleged that in 2007 Beazer tried to trademark the terms "SmartDesign" and "ESmart Homes;" and later started using slogans like "Smart Living" and "Buy Low ... Live Smart."

Pardee charged that Beazer has been using the "Smart Living" slogan as the title of a magazine promoting its homes; that on June 1 it issued a press release announcing a nationwide "Buy Low ... Live Smart" sales event set for this weekend and that in blast e-mails it touts "living smart" features of its eco-friendly homes.

"Beazer's use of the 'Smart Living' and 'Buy Low ... Live Smart' marks will cause Pardee to suffer irreparable injury," Beazer's lawsuit alleged. "The development and sale of residential properties is highly competitive and fragmented, particularly in the current weak housing market. Pardee uses its 'Living Smart' mark to distinguish its services from those of its competitors, including Beazer. Now, Beazer is attempting to trade off of Pardee’s goodwill and reputation and its eight years of use of the 'Living Smart' mark by adopting confusingly similar marks."

But with the lawsuit settled, Beazer's Web site now promotes this weekend's sales promotion not with the word "Smart," but with the phrase "Buy Low ... Live Well."