Reading the Seahawks boards on 12th man. In case there is any question. Better know how the 12 man came about. But here is why the Seahawks dont own the name and pumping fan noise into the stadium is a fascade. Texas A&M University applied on December 26, 1989, for trademark U.S. Ser. No.74013898 related to usage of the term. The United States Patent and Trademark Office issued the trademark registrationSeptember 4, 1990 to Texas A&M. Four additional Trademark claims related to the 12th Man term were also filed and granted at later dates by Texas A&M University (See U.S. Ser. Nos. 74560726, 76671314,85977835 and 85851199), the first three of which have achieved Incontestable Status as a result of its section 15 affidavit with the Patent and Trademark Office. According to former Texas A&M Athletic Director Bill Byrne, he wrote the Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills about halting their 12th Man themes.[60]Byrne stated that, they responded quickly with our requests to stop using our Twelfth Man trademark.[61] Texas A&M[who?] sent requests to stop using the phrase to the Seattle Seahawks in both 2004 and 2005. The Seahawks did not respond to the requests.[62] In January 2006, Texas A&M filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against theSeattle Seahawks to protect the trademark and in May 2006, the dispute was settled out of court. Neither side admitted any fault or liability. As part of the agreement, the Seahawks acknowledge Texas A&Ms ownership rights of the trademarked phrase. In the agreement, Texas A&M licensed the Seahawks to continue using the phrase 12th Man in exchange for $100,000, along with public acknowledgement by the NFL franchise as to Texas A&Ms ownership of the phrase, and an additional annual fee.[63] The compensation amounted to $5000 per year.[64][65] The agreement limits the Seahawks usage to seven western states and forbids them from selling any 12th Man merchandise.
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 07:45:10 +0000