A&M takes on tiny microbrewery over '12th man beer'

The Texas A&M 12th Man screams and hollers during the fourth quarter of the Texas A&M-Nebraska college football game, Nov. 20, 2010, at Kyle Stadium in College Station. Texas A&M won the game 9-6. ( Karen Warren / Houston Chronicle ) less The Texas A&M 12th Man screams and hollers during the fourth quarter of the Texas A&M-Nebraska college football game, Nov. 20, 2010, at Kyle Stadium in College Station. Texas A&M won the game 9-6. ... more Photo: Karen Warren, Chronicle Photo: Karen Warren, Chronicle Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close A&M takes on tiny microbrewery over '12th man beer' 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

Foggy Noggin Brewing, a tiny microbrewery near Seattle, is getting ready for its weekly public tasting on Feb. 1.

In honor of the Seattle Seahawks' participation in the Super Bowl on Sunday, the brewery will be serving its latest offering -- Cease & Desist IPA (short for India Pale Ale).

Brewery owner Jim Jamison had intended to name the batch 12th Man Skittles IPA, making reference to both the Seahawks' tradition of recognizing fans with a 12th man flag and running back Marshawn Lynch's love of Skittles candy. (Whenever Lynch scores a touchdown, fans throw bags of Skittles at him.)

But on Jan. 28, one week after sending an email announcing the new batch to local followers, Jamison said he received an email and overnight delivery of documents from Texas A&M University's attorneys informing him he had infringed on their 12th Man trademark.

"They own the trademark on 12th Man ever used in anything," Jamison said.

The university has also squabbled with the Seahawks over the team's use of "12th Man" in the 2006 Super Bowl. An out-of-court settlement of that dustup required Seattle to pay a $100,000 lump sum plus $5,000 each year the phrase is used.

Jamison said he was surprised the big Texas school even knew about his small batch of beer, slated for a one-time, pre-Super Bowl tasting.

"We're one of the smallest breweries in the world," he said of the business that operates out of his home just four hours a week. Jamison also has a full-time job in the fire safety industry.

The packet of documents he received had a lot of legal language which the affable, part-time brewer summed up as: "They just want you not to do it."

Shane Hinckley, A&M's interim vice president of marketing and communications, said it's important that people know the university owns the brand.

"There's an expectation under trademark law that owners will protect the brand," he said Friday. "It's not a situation of 'We like that person so we'll let it go.' We have to treat everybody the same for the most part. If you're not protecting the brand you can lose the trademark."

The iconic phrase "The 12th Man" is the most important brand that Texas A&M has, Hinckley said.

Jamison, whose brewery is in Bothell, about 25 miles northeast of CenturyLink Field where the Seahawks play, said he told the attorneys he would honor the request, rename the beer and let people know the original name should no longer be used.

"They said they were fine with that," Jamison said. "But if you tell people not to talk about it, they want to talk about it even more."

In a similar struggle over beer naming, Dick's Brewing Co. in Centralia, Wash., introduced 12 Man Pale Ale in December.

It was two years in the making, mostly due to legal wrangling with A&M, resulting in the name 12 Man, rather than the trademarked 12th Man, according to the Associated Press.

Now, with recent news interest in the David-Goliath story of Foggy Noggin Brewing and A&M, Jamison said he has no idea how many people to expect for the four-hour tasting event Feb. 1 in his converted garage.

"I don't know if we'll have five people or 500," he said.

The batch is only 55 servings, so if there's a crowd, they could be disappointed, he said.