SEO Headline (Max 60 characters)
U.S. Patent Office Lets Ohio State Trademark the Word ‘The’
It took years, but Ohio State University has finally prevailed upon the U.S. government to let it trademark the most common word in the English language.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Wednesday granted the university the exclusive right to use the brand “THE” for “clothing, namely, t-shirts, baseball caps and hats; all of the foregoing being promoted, distributed, and sold through channels customary to the field of sports and collegiate athletics.” The patent office's approval came three years after it initially denied Ohio State’s attempt to trademark use of the word, saying it was merely ornamental. A year ago, the university settled a dispute with the fashion designer Marc Jacobs, who had petitioned for exclusive use of the word on high-end clothing.
Ohio State prefers to be called The Ohio State University.
Trending Stories
THE Campus
Resources for faculty and staff from our partners at Times Higher Education.
- How LGBTQ leaders navigate a predominantly non-LGBTQ world
- Voting counts: how to get more students to the ballot box
- The changes to the National Student Survey could prove disastrous
- From personal to professional: incorporating sustainability into your university work
- How to tell if your university is making a genuine effort to increase diversity
Most Shared Stories
- DeSantis puts into action his plan to end "woke activism"
- Provost makes bestiality joke, reacting to concern for LGBTQ faculty
- Academic experts offer advice on ChatGPT
- Education Department hints at possible delay of new FAFSA
- Women chairs face mushrooming demands with inadequate support (opinion) | Inside Higher Ed
at Chapel Hill
at Possible Delay of FAFSA
More Than a Diploma