Angel
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"12th Man" case in Texas court
By Benjamin J. Romano
Seattle Times business reporter
The Seahawks are due in court Thursday afternoon to answer charges of trademark infringement leveled by Texas A&M University.
It's not clear if anyone from the team — slightly preoccupied at the moment with an upcoming football game — will be trekking to the courtroom of Judge J.D. Langley in Brazos County, Texas. The hearing was set Tuesday.
For the second day in a row, the Seahawks did not comment on the national flap over the "12th Man."
The A&M Aggies trademarked the phrase, which refers to football fans supporting the 11 players on the field and is a dear Aggieland tradition dating to 1922. The Aggies have asked the Seahawks to stop using the phrase since 2004 and on Monday filed for a temporary restraining order.
Steve Moore, A&M's chief marketing officer, said the prominence of the 12th Man theme in association with the Seahawks during the playoffs prompted the university to take legal action.
"As the games get more important and there's more public exposure of it, then as the trademark owner if you don't do anything ... you really are putting your rights at risk," he said in an interview.
The Seahawks were served court papers Tuesday in both Seattle and Detroit, Moore said.
So what would it take to placate A&M?
"They would have to not use any marks that designate 12th Man any way commercially," Moore said.
What about a settlement?
"At this point we have made the decision that we're not going to sub-license the brand," he said.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2002774965_12thman01.html
By Benjamin J. Romano
Seattle Times business reporter
The Seahawks are due in court Thursday afternoon to answer charges of trademark infringement leveled by Texas A&M University.
It's not clear if anyone from the team — slightly preoccupied at the moment with an upcoming football game — will be trekking to the courtroom of Judge J.D. Langley in Brazos County, Texas. The hearing was set Tuesday.
For the second day in a row, the Seahawks did not comment on the national flap over the "12th Man."
The A&M Aggies trademarked the phrase, which refers to football fans supporting the 11 players on the field and is a dear Aggieland tradition dating to 1922. The Aggies have asked the Seahawks to stop using the phrase since 2004 and on Monday filed for a temporary restraining order.
Steve Moore, A&M's chief marketing officer, said the prominence of the 12th Man theme in association with the Seahawks during the playoffs prompted the university to take legal action.
"As the games get more important and there's more public exposure of it, then as the trademark owner if you don't do anything ... you really are putting your rights at risk," he said in an interview.
The Seahawks were served court papers Tuesday in both Seattle and Detroit, Moore said.
So what would it take to placate A&M?
"They would have to not use any marks that designate 12th Man any way commercially," Moore said.
What about a settlement?
"At this point we have made the decision that we're not going to sub-license the brand," he said.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2002774965_12thman01.html
) But yeah I know there is a big deal being made of it. In facgt it seems to be upstaging the Super Bowl itself ... maybe that was the plan by A & M..