Law schools reach naming agreement

Mediation ends with accord over trademark details

Dueling Houston law schools reached a settlement Thursday in a federal trademark spat over the name and branding at the older institution.

After hitting an impasse in settlement talks earlier this year, the University of Houston and South Texas College of Law Houston hammered out a draft agreement after two days of mediation this week before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dena Hanovice Palermo.

Officials at both schools said they are still waiting for the UH Chancellor and the South Texas board to sign off on the deal.

The schools agreed not to comment on the terms of the agreement or their feelings about the nine-month detente, officials said.

UH regents filed a federal lawsuit in June after crosstown rival South Texas College of Law changed its name to Houston College of Law and switched to a red color scheme for branding and marketing. A high-powered team of UH lawyers said potential law students would be confused by the similarities of the names and colors.

The UH Law Center owned the rights to the word “Houston” in an educational setting, the university contended.

The private law school fought back with its own top-tier lawyers, arguing the schools were too different to cause confusion.

But in October, U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison ruled that UH was likely to win at trial and he ordered South Texas to stop using the name starting with “Houston.”

South Texas reverted to its original name, but adding the word Houston at the end, a revision UH officials said they approved.

It appeared the major conflicts had been resolved, and Ellison suggested the parties work out the final details privately. In January, however, the discussions halted over monetary issues and the status of various trademark applications and registrations still pending.

The judge sent the case to formal mediation, which resulted in the agreement after talks this week.

Officials with both schools declined to comment on the potential settlement.