On Monday, in U.S. District Court in Houston, the University of Houston System instituted a legal proceedings against the South Texas College of Law over a trademark infringement lawsuit.

The lawsuit of the University of Houston System alleged the name change of STCL to Houston College of Law. STCL also adopted the red and white color scheme of the University of Houston System that constitutes intentional infringement of the institution's intellectual property and unfair competition.

The imitation of STCL to UH resulted a damage to the university and its brand, as well as a confusion in the marketplace, UH EDU reported.

The lawsuit states that STCL must stop utilizing the trademarks of UH, and any other mark that is confusingly similar to the University of Houston System's trademarks.

The chairman of the University of Houston System Board of Regents - Tilman Fertitta, stated that the issue is about protecting the institution's reputation and its business. As the UH earned their standing as a nationally ranked law center, thus, they won't allow someone else to carry the university's name and colors, and market themselves on their success.

Tony Buzbee, principal of The Buzbee Law Firm, which represents UH as lead counsel, said that the brand of the University of Houston Law Center is associated with the nation's highest quality of faculty and lawyers. The university took a step by step method to achieve its recognition.

Buzbee also said that the University of Houston System believes the attempted renaming of South Texas College of Law is an improper shortcut to take advantage of the success of UH.

However, the South Texas College of Law's president and dean, stated that STCL changed its name for the reason of the poor brand recognition of the institution regionally and locally. The South Texas College of Law even hired SimpsonScarborough (Alexandria, Virginia-based Market Researcher) to help with the re-branding, Bizjournals reported.

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