Texas A&M University, which sued the Indianapolis Colts to protect its 12th Man trademark rights, has reached a settlement with the Colts.
The university noted specifically that the litigation “has been settled amicably and with good will. Texas A&M appreciates the positive and professional manner in which the Colts organization engaged in settlement discussions and extends its best wishes to the Indianapolis Colts for their continued success.”
Terms of the settlement were not announced.
The use of 12th Man originated in 1922 when Texas A&M student, E. King Gill, was asked to come down out of the stands and suit up for a game against Centre College. Gill stood on the sidelines for the rest of the game, ready to play if needed. Texas A&M won the game, and the 12th Man phrase was adopted “to identify and distinguish the Texas A&M spirit evidenced by E. King Gill at that game,” according to the university. The school officially established the trademark to the phrase in 1990.
Since then, the university has aggressively defended its trademark. Several years ago, it sued the Seattle Seahawks when that team began describing its fan base with the phrase. In response, the Seahawks negotiated a licensing deal with the university, which called for a one-time payment of $100,000 to the university, plus annual payments of $5,000. That deal expires next year.
Furthermore, Seattle is only allowed to use the phrase on promotional material in certain states (Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah and Washington) and cannot sell merchandise using the phrase.
The Buffalo Bills also negotiated a license from Texas A&M for “12th Man,” but that deal is only for limited use inside the stadium, and is reportedly set to expire next year.
As for the Colts, the university claimed that the team first began using the “12th Man” mark inside its stadium in 2006. Texas A&M sent a cease-and-desist letter, and the Colts reportedly agreed not to use the mark on any goods or services. The team, however, “retired the 12th Man mark” in its ring of honor in 2008, according to the law suit, spawning another warning from Texas A&M. The final straw, claimed the university, was when the Colts used the phrase in a marketing e-mail earlier this year, encouraging its fans to “Join The 12th Man.”
The school sued, and school president Michael K. Young issued the following statement:
“We would prefer not to file lawsuits to protect our trademarks. However, when our intellectual property, especially the 12th Man mark which is so important to our students and former students, is used without our permission after repeated attempts to engage on the matter, we are left with no choice.”
A&M System Chancellor John Sharp added that “we simply want them to respect our trademark rights. Our actions are consistent with our previous trademark enforcement efforts in this regard.”
The lawsuit can be found here: http://media.graytvinc.com/documents/TAMU+vs.+Colts+Inc+Lawsuit.pdf
