Texas A&M has been in the midst of an aggressive legal campaign to defend its 12th Man trademark. The university has lodged complaints and threatened action against a group that includes a double amputee and cancer survivor who co-founded the site 12thManThunder.com promoting efforts to keep the Bills in Buffalo.
Arnold, oddly enough, said he had never heard of Texas A&M’s 12th Man tradition, which dates back to the 1920s, until a few years ago.
“I had been around football and coached for a long time, and we always talked about the 12th man being the fan,” he said. “I honestly didn’t know about the A&M story until seven or eight years after we started the company.”
A. This is how irrelevant A&M has become to the 12th Man. I scorn the stupidity of people who say the Seahawks "stole" the 12th Man from A&M. The term has long ago grown generic through common use.
B. This is the kind of people who are leading the charge to keep the 12th Man Aggie.
C. Paul Allen knows more about intellectual property rights than the entire faculty of A&M. The best case scenario for A&M is an extension of the previous agreement. When they first went to battle with us about it, they wanted us to not use it at all. I believe we "settled" with them in a go-away-kid-you're-bothering-me sort of way, and if we'd have seriously defended our use of the term then, we'd have mopped the floor with A&M's trademarks.
Not only that, but there are other NFL teams who want to use "12th Man" in their marketing and fan support. Denver, Buffalo, and Washington, all have previously used it in one form or another. A&M could find themselves in over their heads if they push too hard.