Texas A&M targets Washington brewer over '12th Man' trademark infringement

[TexasTowelie]

Plans for a Seattle Seahawks Superbowl celebration with 12th Man beer fell flat after Texas A&M lawyers intervened to protect their trademark.

A family-owned brewery in Bothell, Wash. planned to sell "12th Man Skittles IPA" on Superbowl weekend but canceled the plans after receiving a cease-and-desist notice from A&M, which has trademarked the phrase. A&M lawyers actively police unlicensed uses of the trademark, which have increased with the Seahawks' run to the Super Bowl.

Bothell is a town of about 34,000 located about 20 miles northeast of Seattle. The brewery is operated by Jim Jamison and his family, who have full-time jobs but run the business on the side from property in a residential area. It's only open on Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m.

The 12th Man Skittles IPA was thought up somewhat last minute by Jamison as a way to celebrate the Seahawks' 12th man tradition and star running back Marshawn Lynch's affinity for the candy. He brewed 5.6 gallons of the beer, which isn't even a full batch, with home brew equipment.

More at http://www.theeagle.com/news/a_m/article_562541d6-be7b-5d23-affc-40dc41015040.html .

Cross-posted in the Texas Group.

[yewberry]

1. Geez, I'm not a football fan but that's pretty crummy.

A big university is going after a homebrewer for 'diluting their brand' with 5 gallons of beer?

Well, bless your heart, Texas A&M.

[jmowreader]

2. Trademarks WILL be protected no matter how small the infraction

Consider: if they don't go after this company, someone else with more nefarious designs (maybe another SEC school) will infringe and use the Aggies' failure to enforce the trademark as grounds to have it negated. It's happened before.

The sad part of this whole situation is, if they would have called the Seahawks headquarters and asked about licensing the term, it could have been taken care of quickly and easily.

[yewberry]

3. Yes, that's true.

But it does seem way over the top. If the dude had known about the licensing fees to begin with he would have known not to try to use those magic words for 5 gallons of homebrew.

[Aristus]

4. Fuck Texas A&M! We won the Superbowl!

College Station is a dump!