South Texas College of Law changes name again to avoid UH lawsuit

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The South Texas College of Law has changed its name just slightly in an apparent effort to avoid a lawsuit by the University of Houston.

The school, lately known as Houston College of Law, agreed to change its name to avoid a federal trademark lawsuit with the University of Houston.

The new name is South Texas College of Law Houston.

The University of Houston asserted the school's name and red-and-white color scheme was confusing.

"We believed we were acting in the best interest of our law school and its students when we made only one change to our name: we replaced 'South Texas' with 'Houston' to acknowledge our birthplace in the heart of downtown," said J. Ken Johnson, chairman of the South Texas College of Law Houston board of directors.

However, the school said in a press release today, "out of respect for a federal court opinion following a request for preliminary injunction by the University of Houston, the board of directors has decided to proceed with the South Texas College of Law Houston name."

"Given that time was of the essence, by promptly changing our name to South Texas College of Law Houston, the board of directors made the only responsible and prudent decision for the law school," said Johnson.

The school said it also plans to feature the color navy in its future marketing efforts. While the school's official colors have been - and will remain - crimson and gold since the board approved them in the 1960s, this change will further differentiate South Texas College of Law Houston from other colleges, the school said.

"We have a 93-year heritage of educating some of the nation's top litigators and transactional attorneys, and we confidently stand on our own award-winning reputation," said Donald J. Guter, president and dean of South Texas College of Law Houston. "Our name change stemmed from a desire to make certain that people knew we were in Houston and not South Texas. We have great pride in our law school and what we have accomplished as a unique educational institution."