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Are A&M lawyers being d-bags over the '12th Man' trademark?
Posted on 7/2/14 at 12:00 pm
Posted on 7/2/14 at 12:00 pm
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What say ye, SECr denizens? Is Aggy being too Aggy or are they simply protecting what they have made legal claim to?
quote:
Charles Sonntag co-founded 12thManThunder.com, a website for people who wanted to keep the Bills in Buffalo. The Aggies are threatening to sue Sonntag for infringing on the "12th Man."
Legally, it's an open question as to whether Sonntag's website actually infringes on A&M's mark. There's almost no likelihood of confusion between 12thManThunder in Buffalo and the College Station fan base.
quote:
A&M wants all the 12thManThunder posters taken down (some are posted at area bars), and they want the Facebook group named changed. Did I mention that Sonntag is a double amputee? HE HAS ONE ARM AND ONE LEG! Could we give him a minute to deal with all of this?
Texas A&M is picking on this man, not because they think he's seriously diluting their trademark, but because he's not wealthy enough to stop them. I guess it's easy enough for the 12th Man to rattle Rice and then congratulate themselves for the effort.
What say ye, SECr denizens? Is Aggy being too Aggy or are they simply protecting what they have made legal claim to?
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Posted on 7/2/14 at 12:04 pm to tylerdurden24
Instead of actual accomplishments and championships, their trademarks are all they have...
Even tho aTm wasn't the first to use the "12th man"...
Even tho aTm wasn't the first to use the "12th man"...
Posted on 7/2/14 at 12:04 pm to tylerdurden24
We'll since 12thmanthunder.com is a bad gateway now I guess people other than A&M felt it was legit
Posted on 7/2/14 at 12:05 pm to tylerdurden24
They're doing what they're paid to do: protect university marks.
Georgia has the same processes.
The attorneys aren't at the liberty of picking and choosing which marks are protection-worthy--they all are.
That's just how it goes.
Georgia has the same processes.
The attorneys aren't at the liberty of picking and choosing which marks are protection-worthy--they all are.
That's just how it goes.
This post was edited on 7/2/14 at 12:07 pm
Posted on 7/2/14 at 12:07 pm to tylerdurden24
A&M will eventually claim the "#" 
Posted on 7/2/14 at 12:07 pm to tylerdurden24
Horrible article and very misleading. A&M has to protect its trademark or else they will lose it. They aren't asking for money, they are just stopping him from using the trademark and his org is hiding behind him being disabled as a reason for ignoring the law.
You can't use trademarks that other people own, period. If his org just stopped doing it then there would be no story.
You can't use trademarks that other people own, period. If his org just stopped doing it then there would be no story.
Posted on 7/2/14 at 12:09 pm to LSUNV
quote:
We'll since 12thmanthunder.com is a bad gateway now I guess people other than A&M felt it was legit
Aggy threatened to sue him for "damages" so he instead created a new website using a different name.
Posted on 7/2/14 at 12:10 pm to tylerdurden24
The best comment on that article is the one that says, "No pun or pun intended, he should change it to 12-1/2 Man....."
Dude's a double amputee.
Dude's a double amputee.
Posted on 7/2/14 at 12:10 pm to tylerdurden24
Posted on 7/2/14 at 12:11 pm to aggressor
They shouldn't have let A&M trademark it in the first place.
Posted on 7/2/14 at 12:11 pm to tylerdurden24
Posted on 7/2/14 at 12:12 pm to tylerdurden24
I remember when A&M sued, and won, a Gamecock website who was known for trying to copy and steal everything ... and they tried using "The 12th Man" as their site catch phrase in the late 90s.
A&M should protect its property.
The law is the law.
A&M should protect its property.
The law is the law.
Posted on 7/2/14 at 12:13 pm to tylerdurden24
When I hear "the 12th Man" I think of the Seahawks not A&M. I always forget their fans call themselves that
Posted on 7/2/14 at 12:14 pm to scrooster
quote:
A&M should protect its property.
Its not their property, its like an Edison invention, someone else invented it first, but they copied and ran straight to the patent/trademark office.
Posted on 7/2/14 at 12:15 pm to scrooster
quote:
A&M should protect its property.
Posted on 7/2/14 at 12:22 pm to ipodking
quote:
When I hear "the 12th Man" I think of the Seahawks not A&M. I always forget their fans call themselves that
Ok.
But that's not how it works.
We're not too interested in who the more "famous" 12th Man is--we know its origins.
We make very little money off of the Seahawks--it's negligible (a few thousand dollars?).
It's an issue of having to show legal precedence of having actively protected the mark.
Damn attorneys & what not.
The money is a moot point.
Posted on 7/2/14 at 12:23 pm to tylerdurden24
quote:
What say ye, SECr denizens? Is Aggy being too Aggy or are they simply protecting what they have made legal claim to?
I say go for it. When I think "12th man", Texas A&M is who I think of. Anything else is wannabe.
Posted on 7/2/14 at 12:25 pm to DaleDenton
[quote]Aggy threatened to sue him for "damages" so he instead created a new website using a different name.[/quote
Trust me, if he didn't think A&M was right it would still be up.
Trust me, if he didn't think A&M was right it would still be up.
Posted on 7/2/14 at 12:25 pm to tylerdurden24
No, we just really hate cripples.
Posted on 7/2/14 at 12:25 pm to DaleDenton
quote:
Its not their property, its like an Edison invention, someone else invented it first, but they copied and ran straight to the patent/trademark office.
I imagine that someone somewhere said "Just Do It" before Nike or "I'm lovin it" before McDonalds. The trademark belongs to who claims it first. Rules is rules.
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