Jump to content

Ohio State trademarks "the."


Parliament

Recommended Posts

When I was in college there were some students petitioning to rename the school The Oklahoma State University. They were laughed at mercilessly for good reasons. I honestly didn't even know at the time it had anything to do with Ohio State. Makes it even stupider.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Dennis Taylor said:

The story is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen. One of the most used words in the English language. Do the idiots that trademark the think that they will somehow be able to limit the use of the word the or somehow profit from the use of the word the? 

It's for t shirts and hats.  Don't really care.  It seems dumb to me as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds like a buncha' shit to me. We've officially been "The" University of Texas since the adoption of the current Texas Constitution in 1876, wherein Section 10 of Article 7 reads:

"Sec. 10. ESTABLISHMENT OF UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS; AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL DEPARTMENT. The Legislature shall as soon as practicable establish, organize and provide for the maintenance, support and direction of a University of the first class, to be located by a vote of the people of this State, and styled, "The University of Texas", for the promotion of literature, and the arts and sciences, including an Agricultural, and Mechanical department." (bolding added; quotation marks are a part of the Constitution) 

And in case anyone was wondering, the constitutional mandate that The University of Texas be a "university of the first class" is what differentiates us from the fuckin' aggys. And the fuckin' sooners. And the fuckin' bucknuts. And the fuckin' . . .  

  • Hook 'Em 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

THE Ohio State University has the shittiest, least friendly fans I’ve ever encountered in my 20+ years of attending college football games, and it’s not really close.

It’s like they took the relatively small % of every fan base comprised of delusional, self-important jersey-wearing shit-bags, concentrated it down to its purist form and applied it to the general population.

That’s all I’ve got on this topic. 

  • Hook 'Em 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Dennis Taylor said:

The story is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen. One of the most used words in the English language. Do the idiots that trademark the think that they will somehow be able to limit the use of the word the or somehow profit from the use of the word the? 

It was only registered because tOSU has apparently licensed/sold a fair shit ton of merch with nothing but "THE" on it, or super-prominently over Ohio State University.  They filed a 100 page affidavit attesting to the length and numerosity of that usage.

They would only be able to successfully sue another entity using "THE" in virtual isolation, which don't make no sense.

The utility of the registration is to use it against bootleg OSU merch sellers, not in some aggyesque crusade to stop use of 12th Man.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

41 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

It was only registered because tOSU has apparently licensed/sold a fair shit ton of merch with nothing but "THE" on it, or super-prominently over Ohio State University.  They filed a 100 page affidavit attesting to the length and numerosity of that usage.

They would only be able to successfully sue another entity using "THE" in virtual isolation, which don't make no sense.

The utility of the registration is to use it against bootleg OSU merch sellers, not in some aggyesque crusade to stop use of 12th Man.

So are we idiots for doing it or not?  I don't speak lawyer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, 0xdeadbeef said:

Tell me they aren't intending to sell shirts and hats that just have the letters "THE" on them.   That would be kind-a goofy. 

gogglegooglegoogle

Holy Shitballs!  It's not just bad, it's OSU-bad.

 

 

Ahem, it's tOSU-bad.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Parliament said:

So are we idiots for doing it or not?  I don't speak lawyer.

Apparently, you people have been and continue to eat up "THE" merch.  I'll let people draw their own conclusion about that.

Now, with this registration, tOSU can more legitimately license that specific mark (otherwise licensees probably would have said fuck off) and sue bootleg merch sellers.  So that's reasonably savvy.

Pretty good work by the lawyers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, 0xdeadbeef said:

Tell me they aren't intending to sell shirts and hats that just have the letters "THE" on them.   That would be kind-a goofy. 

gogglegooglegoogle

Holy Shitballs!  It's not just bad, it's OSU-bad.

 

image.thumb.png.e7c9002b562c0d6ca390bc594af1b77f.png 

Like I said, they're not intending to, they already have.  That's why they were able to obtain the registration.  You can use your way into a trademark for just about anything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ohio State's legal department has always been gestapo on companies drafting off of their brand.  They send hundreds of cease and desist letters every year to companies using Brutus doppelgangers and such in the ads and logos.

Trademarking "the" is on brand, and I hope they don't abuse it.  I think they will not, but I'm obviously biased.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...