Aggies Take Seahawks' '12th Man' To Court

kdonline · #1 02-02-2006, 02:59 AM

Seahawks Ordered To Stop Using '12th Man'

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Texas A&M has sought a restraining order against the Seattle Seahawks, asking the NFC champions to stop promoting the "12th Man" marketing campaign.

A local district judge in Bryan, Texas, reportedly signed a temporary restraining order Monday against the Seahawks from using the "12th Man" slogan until a ruling is made on whether the phrase is a licensed trademark of Texas A&M University. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday.

The school filed the request Monday in district court in Brazos County, arguing that the Seahawks are infringing on A&M's legal claim to the "12th Man" slogan. The school claims it created the moniker more than 80 years ago and owns the rights to use it.

"Texas A&M University certainly has no ill will towards the Seattle Seahawks," said Steve Moore, A&M's chief marketing officer and vice president for communications. "However, we have the responsibility and legal obligation to protect the university's trademarks, which in this instance is the '12th Man."'

The Seahawks, who play Pittsburgh in Sunday's Super Bowl, have recognized their followers as a "12th Man" since the mid-1980s, when capacity crowds turned the now-demolished Kingdome into one of the NFL's loudest venues. The team retired the No. 12 in 1984.

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kddani · #2 02-02-2006, 07:07 AM

Wow, is 12th Man trademarked by them? I've heard of many schools using that.

alum · #3 02-02-2006, 07:12 AM

My husband's alma mater used 12th man as well.

KillarneyRose · #4 02-02-2006, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by alum
My husband's alma mater used 12th man as well.

So does MY husband's alma mater. I bet your husband's school stole it from mine!

alum · #5 02-02-2006, 08:39 AM

You guys definitely had your 12th man in place this year.

valkyrie · #6 02-02-2006, 12:49 PM

They use "12th Man" at Invesco as well. How that damages a school in Texas I can only imagine.

TristanDSP · #7 02-02-2006, 01:17 PM

This is like when Diamond Dallas Page tried to sue Jay-Z for using the dynasty hand symbol. I mean, shouldn't Delta Sigma Theta sue for making that the Rocafella gesture, not DDP?

KillarneyRose · #8 02-02-2006, 03:45 PM

Anyone remember when Spike Lee tried to sue Spike TV for "using his name"? I guess he was unsuccessful.

AKA_Monet · #9 02-02-2006, 05:42 PM

My husband and I are laughing at this whole concept...

Now from what I have read and heard the 12th Man at Texas A&M is trademarked and they have sued other NFL teams for using it and won...

What we find funny about it, I would not want to piss someone like Paul Allen off because he is a very ruthless man. And if you want your computers to continue working and not always de-worming them, then I'd not be someone to piss this kind of person off...

But hey, Texas has Texas Instruments. So well, it will be Texas against Washington. That would be funny for the all the whiners in Seattle...

At least Texas won't be hating on Californians anymore for a little bit...

kdonline · #10 02-02-2006, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by AKA_Monet

But hey, Texas has Texas Instruments. So well, it will be Texas against Washington. That would be funny for the all the whiners in Seattle...

<cof cof> There is NO comparison between Microsoft & Texas Instruments.

And...what's this about whiners in Seattle!? The whining is coming from Texas, not us!

AKA_Monet · #11 02-02-2006, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by kdonline
<cof cof> There is NO comparison between Microsoft & Texas Instruments.

And...what's this about whiners in Seattle!? The whining is coming from Texas, not us!

And Paul Allen knows this...

Oh yeah, I mean "winners"

.... Yeah, yeah, that's it...

saetex · #12 02-02-2006, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by kdonline
<cof cof> There is NO comparison between Microsoft & Texas Instruments.

And...what's this about whiners in Seattle!? The whining is coming from Texas, not us!

ATM has had that trademarked since the 1920's and it has been a very successful marketing strategy for them. Every school that wishes to use it has to get permission. I go to UT and I even know this. I hate ATM and I feel that they are completely right in this manner. I do not know of another school that promotes the 12th Man slogan or campaign other than ATM. It is also a multi multi million dollar ATM foundation.

Exquisite5 · #13 02-03-2006, 12:01 PM

I attended Texas A&M and while I am one of the least Aggie-ish Aggies even I side with my school on this one. Texas A&M has been using the 12th man for AGES and I am almost certain that we have trademarked.

This will be interesting.

TonyB06 · #14 02-03-2006, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by KillarneyRose
Anyone remember when Spike Lee tried to sue Spike TV for "using his name"? I guess he was unsuccessful.

actually, as I recall they reached a settlement (i.e. Spike got paid).

KSig RC · #15 02-03-2006, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by saetex
ATM has had that trademarked since the 1920's and it has been a very successful marketing strategy for them. Every school that wishes to use it has to get permission. I go to UT and I even know this. I hate ATM and I feel that they are completely right in this manner. I do not know of another school that promotes the 12th Man slogan or campaign other than ATM. It is also a multi multi million dollar ATM foundation.

Remember that trademarks have to retain source identification to avoid becoming a generic term - if it does become generic, the mark can be rendered invalid.

I'm not saying this has happened, but if so many other teams refer to their fans as the '12th man' there exists the distinct possibility. The portion about the foundation would not apply, IIRC, since there is really no incidence of confusion by sharing the mark.

-RC
--I'm also not a lawyer, so those with the JD may want to correct my generalizations.