Posted on 05/10/2008 4:14:08 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
Lawsuit claims he's using group's computer program for his company
The Mexican Institute of Greater Houston, known for its computer classes for Hispanic immigrant parents, has sued its former president for trademark infringement.
The lawsuit, filed this week, alleges that Jose Pablo Fernandez co-opted the institute's signature program for the benefit of his similarly named nonprofit. The suit claims the year-old CCA Alliance founded and led by Fernandez has used proprietary information developed by the institute to become "unjustly enriched" and cause confusion in the community.
For six years, the institute has offered computer training sessions in so-called community learning centers known as CCA, short for Centros Comunitarios de Aprendizaje. The concept mimics a Spanish-language online learning program developed by Monterrey Tech, a private university in Mexico. The institute partnered with the school and adapted the program to teach basic computer courses to Spanish-speaking parents in Houston at the schools their children attend.
Since 2002, more than 10,000 people have participated in the program and about 5,000 have graduated.
Two Web sites
The Mexican Institute ties its credibility to the success of the program and sued to protect the goodwill of the organization, said board member Michael Trevino.
"Our partners in the school districts and in the community have expressed to us that they are confused about who's what," said Trevino, a former board chairman. "We can't allow people to take things that are the intellectual property of the institution."
Fernandez was the institute president from 2000 until 2007, when he split with the board of directors over an idea to take the CCA program nationwide. Because he registered the institute's Web site, he was able to convert mexico-info.com into the Internet home for his new nonprofit, CCA Alliance.
When contacted, Fernandez said he had been in Dallas this week opening centers for CCA Alliance and was unaware of the lawsuit filed Tuesday.
"What? I don't know anything about it," he said. "I don't know why they would do that."
The lawsuit also claims that the institute paid a publisher to create a booklet about its CCA program that was delivered to Fernandez and never received by the institute. Legal filings also allege that marketing elements originating with the institute appear on the CCA Alliance Web site.
After Fernandez resigned, the institute recast its Web presence at mexicaninstitute.org, a still-undeveloped site.
cindy.george@chron.com
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