Posted on 01/29/2006 6:43:05 AM PST by texianyankee
The Seattle Seahawks are facing the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl, but they have an off-the-field battle brewing with Texas A&M University.
School officials are upset with the Seahawks' use of the "12th Man" theme to recognize their fan support. A&M has legal claims to the "12th Man" moniker, a school tradition that dates to the 1920s.
The Seahawks have celebrated their fans as a "12th Man" since the 1980s, when they used to turn the now-demolished Kingdome into one of the NFL's loudest venues.
The team retired the No. 12 in 1984. Now, a No. 12 flag waves atop the city's signature Space Needle and the team has raised a "12th Man" banner at their new stadium, Qwest Field.
A&M's "12th Man" tradition started in 1922, when a student, E. King Gill, was called from the stands to suit up for the injury-depleted Aggies as they faced top-ranked Centre College. Gill never got in the game, but the Aggies won, 22-14.
The tradition has evolved into a campus-wide commitment to support the football team. Students stand for entire games at Kyle Field and while singing Saw Varsity's Horns Off after The Aggie War Hymn, they join arms and sway in unison, causing the stadium to literally shake.
A&M has twice registered trademarks for "The 12th Man" label - in 1990 and 1996 - that include entertainment services, "namely organizing and conducting intercollegiate sporting events," and products, such as caps, T-shirts, novelty buttons and jewelry.
Athletics director Bill Byrne said this week he's received e-mails from A&M supporters complaining about the Seahawks' "brazen use of the 12th Man theme at their home playoff games."
Byrne said A&M has contacted the Seahawks about the issue. He said he wrote the Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills in the past about halting their 12th man themes once the university made them aware of the trademark registrations.
Byrne said Seattle, though, "has been slow-rolling us."
Lance Lopes, the Seahawks' vice president of corporate partnerships/legal affairs, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram he would not comment on whether the team would meet A&M's request.
"I will say this," Lopes told the newspaper. "Our fans have been the folks that have run with the 12th man. It has not been the organization itself. We raise a flag with a 12 on it, it doesn't say 12th man or anything like that. We retired the jersey No. 12 many, many years ago, and we've always sort of kept it under that context.
"But, in terms of this whole 12th man derivative, if you will, that's occurred in the mass media and the public here locally. It has not been generated by the organization, per se."
But Steve Moore, A&M's chief marketing officer, said the school has seen Seahawks-themed "12th Man" merchandise and has no way to know whether the franchise itself is producing it.
The team's pro shop is sold out of No. 12 replica game jerseys and No. 12 flags and a fan Web site - SeaHawkers.org - offers downloadable computer desktop wallpaper that reads: "At Home We are the 12th Man" and "On the Road We are the 12th Man."
"In the normal course of action, once someone becomes aware of it and they understand that you have a registered trademark, normally they cease," said Steve Moore, A&M's chief marketing officer. "In this case, they have chosen not to, but we are still hopeful that they will, quite frankly."
The university's last resort is to take the Seahawks to court, but Moore said A&M is not prepared to do that yet.
"What we hope is that the normal course of action will work, and that they'll choose to recognize our ownership of the trademark," he said.
Someone in Texas really needs to pull their panties out and relax.
The 12 th man is great at college station, when they march out singing "POOR AGGIES".
But can A&M use the name, what with the A&M records label?
(Everyone from Burt Bacharach to the Black Eyed Peas;
Carpenters to Joe Cocker; Fairport Convention to Blues
Traveler) :)
Thanks for pinging this story to the NFL ping list. I was hoping someone would do that for me.
Rutgers University has also sued Texas A&M for the existence of their football team. Rutgers was, of course, the victor of the first intercollegiate football game.
Actually, it probably would. It is trademarked which is legal protection. The Seahawks can't use it any more than they can sell merchandise with the trademarked phrases, "Have it your way" or "Coke is it."
I understand how a trademark provides protection, but I didn't think you could trademark items that were already being used by others. Can't the Seahawks, and others, claim prior use and make the Aggies defend thier trademark? (OK, no more lawyer playing for me. I'm in over my head.)
You're entitled to say "Have it your way" and you probably said it in some context before Burger King got its trademark. But you're no longer allowed to use that phrase in marketing.
But if they specifically obtained the trademark for the purposes of intercollegiate marketing, then they don't have a leg to stand on.
It's somewhat trivial and spiteful. If the Hawks had gone down in the playoffs, we wouldn't be hearing squat about it.
Employment for lawyers.
I think the Hawks oughta just tell em "We'll keep it on the PRO level, you keep it on the collegiate. And if you persist in making azzes outa yourself, we will NEVER EVER EVEN IF HELL FREEZES OVER draft anybody from A&M"
That's just not true from a legal standpoint.
Starbucks Coffee can't use "Have it your way" by arguing that Burger King's trademark only applies to hamburgers.
If you want to argue that all trademarks should be abolished, fine. That's a different debate. But you can't argue that some should be respected and some shouldn't depending on your allegiance to a particular football team.
OK, well I'm not an intellectual property lawyer.
But, for instance, say the Seahawks sell a Jersey in their proshop that has the number 12 on it.
Are the Seahawks the only team in the NFL that have Jerseys with 12 on it? Of course not.
So unless A&M is gonna insist that the entire NFL and all collegiate football retire the number 12, then they CAN'T say that they have absolute, exclusive rights to it.
So I don't see them prevailing in court.
A&M doesn't have a trademark on the number 12. They have it on "12th Man."
They're not pressing this in court, but if the Seahawks continue to market stuff based on their fans being the "12th Man" then they're extremely likely to lose in court if it goes that far.
Well they have a noble history of it and they took it to new levels. Further I remember sitting in the Kingdome, circa 1980s, watching the Seahawks, and I don't recall any 12th man hype. But that begs the issue. I suspect a little research will show that the 12th man concept and utterance, was and has been used by most teams in the world. Long before the Aggies.
First off, I'm no lawyer, either....however, the Aggies were using the term, "12th Man" long before the Seahawks were even formed as an NFL franchise. In fact, if my memory serves me correctly, the term, "12th Man" sorta originated with A&M. However, my memory has failed me at times in the past.....
I'm inclined to think A&M has a case. But not a good one.
"12th man" is a concept.
Can I trademark "First born child"?
There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of instances where the idea of a 12th man is relevant.
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