In October of 2006, CSTB linked to an item from the Austin American-Statesman in which Saints QB Drew Brees disassociated himself from his mother’s campaign to win a spot on the Texas 3rd Court of Appeals. Sadly, it seems Mina Brees (above) is not nearly done making a name for herself, as the Houston Chronicle’s Mike Tolson reports.
Scores of Houston restaurant owners received a letter from an Austin attorney last week offering them the œopportunity to purchase one thing that all believed was already and irrefutably theirs ” their name.
The letter, addressed œto whom it may concern, informed the restaurateurs that their assumed names on file with the Harris County Clerk had expired. The new owner of all these names, a company called Chicksports Inc., was willing to sell each one back. The price? Some owners were told $25,000, others $20,000. The letter ended with what some considered a threat.
œIf you have not contacted me by email or phone by August 14, 2009, Chicksports will explore its legal options for your use of the assumed name it now owns or contact other parties interested in owning the reservation of the right to this assumed name, attorney Mina Brees wrote.
Jeffrey Horowitz, who represents the owners of Shade, a restaurant in Houston Heights, said the letter made little sense from a legal standpoint.
œIt looks like a weak attempt to do something like cyber squatting, but the law in Texas is such that ” with trade names and trademarks ” first use usually prevails, Horowitz said. œWhy they would send a letter like that ¦ doesn’t make any sense unless they were trying to take advantage of a restaurateur who does not know the law.