# O.S.U. wants to trademark the word "the" **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 14, 2019, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-s-u-wants-to-trademark-the-word-the/838662 "2019-08-14T16:07:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-s-u-wants-to-trademark-the-word-the/838662/61 "2019-08-16T14:48:52Z")
Regarding Boise States original blue colored turf registration, the trademark examiner initially rejected Boise State’s application for “failure to function due to lack of distinctiveness.” To get the initial rejection reversed, Boise State had to submit evidence to “support the contention that the color blue as applied to artificial turf has gained acquired distinctiveness and has come to identify Applicant Boise State University as the sole source of the entertainment services presented in connection with that turf. The Exhibits, inter alia, offer many examples of unsolicited, third-party references, news stories, anecdotes, and magazine articles confirming that the blue turf has become virtually synonymous with Boise State University’s athletics programs.” ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-s-u-wants-to-trademark-the-word-the/838662/62 "2019-08-16T14:51:22Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > In my field of work, I deal with of OSU graduates, because there aren’t a lot of universities that offer the necessary certificates and qualifications. This means that I frequently hear people referring to “ **THE** Ohio State University.” Every single time they do it, I feel like punching them in the mouth. Or next chance you get, “Bob, this is Jerry. He went to **AN** Ohio State University.” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-s-u-wants-to-trademark-the-word-the/838662/63 "2019-08-16T14:59:40Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > [That’s not what they think:](https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160913/09221335507/boise-state-somehow-got-trademark-non-green-football-athletic-fields.shtml) > … > > > [@](#): > > > > Now, we could sit around and argue whether or not having a blue football field was a thing fit to be trademarked. Personally, considering the specific color the school used, I could buy an argument that fans that see the field do indeed think of Boise State. I certainly do. But the school expanded the trademark in 2010 to fields not just blue, but fields that are “non-green.” And that’s crazy. Bradlee Frazer, an IP attorney working with the school, has stated that any non-green athletic field carries with it the risk of confusion pertaining to Boise State. He can say that all he wants, but such a stance likely wouldn’t survive a challenge from another school. I can’t find any U.S. trademark registration under Boise State’s name for fields that are “non-green.” And now that I look more closely at what is quoted here, I see it’s a claim by the article itself, which doesn’t directly cite to any claim by Boise State that it has a right in all non-green fields. So far as I am concerned, unless I can find a primary source, this amounts to an unsupported claim by the author of the article. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-s-u-wants-to-trademark-the-word-the/838662/64 "2019-08-16T15:02:29Z")
> [@Pixel\_Dent](#): > > Or next chance you get, “Bob, this is Jerry. He went to **AN** Ohio State University.” Well, change the capitalization, and there are several universities that might be correctly described as “an Ohio state university”–Cleveland State U., U. of Akron, Youngstown State U., Kent State U., U. of Toledo, Bowling Green State U., Wright State U., Central State U., Miami U., U. of Cincinnati, Shawnee State U., Ohio U., as well as Ohio State. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-s-u-wants-to-trademark-the-word-the/838662/65 "2019-08-16T16:16:52Z")
> [@Pixel\_Dent](#): > > Or next chance you get, “Bob, this is Jerry. He went to **AN** Ohio State University.” Thanks–I might start doing that! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-s-u-wants-to-trademark-the-word-the/838662/66 "2019-08-16T19:50:36Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > In my field of work, I deal with…OSU graduates, because there aren’t a lot of universities that offer the necessary certificates and qualifications. What field would that be? Communications or sports management?\* \*snark aside, the top major for OSU football players is listed [on this website](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2658255-most-popular-academic-majors-for-2016-power-5-conference-football-players) as “sport industry”. A distant second in embarrassment is Wisconsin, where the top football player major is “Community/nonprofit leadership and life science communication” (tie). ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-s-u-wants-to-trademark-the-word-the/838662/67 "2019-09-12T13:09:05Z")
As I suspected OSU ran into trouble because their specimens showed ornamental use instead of trademark use. [https://www.dispatch.com/news/20190911/ohio-states-trademark-request-for-the-denied?template=ampart](https://www.dispatch.com/news/20190911/ohio-states-trademark-request-for-the-denied?template=ampart) ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-s-u-wants-to-trademark-the-word-the/838662/68 "2019-09-12T13:26:49Z")
How and when is **The** supposed to be used? The name of the band Paul McCartney and John Lennon were members of was called **The Beatles**. Not “Beatles.” But **The Beatles**. So when a person says, “I am a fan of **The Beatles** ,” they are grammatically (linguistically?) correct. When a person says, “Play a song by **The Beatles** ,” they are grammatically correct. But if someone were to say, “Play a **The Beatles** song,” it sounds funny. Most people would say, “Play a **Beatles** song.” Are they wrong for doing so? ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-s-u-wants-to-trademark-the-word-the/838662/69 "2019-09-12T13:39:29Z")
I have virtually no interest in American colleges and how they choose to refer to themselves, but I’d just like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Ascenray for patiently and clearly explaining how trademark and copyright law work, both here and in many other threads, despite the continual misunderstandings - I feel I’ve learnt a lot. Also, as an aside, I like your gender neutral pronouns (though personally I’m happy with using “they, them” etc., but let’s not hijack this thread with that discussion). ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-s-u-wants-to-trademark-the-word-the/838662/70 "2019-09-12T13:53:27Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > What field would that be? Communications or sports management?\* > > \*snark aside, the top major for OSU football players is listed [on this website](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2658255-most-popular-academic-majors-for-2016-power-5-conference-football-players) as “sport industry”. A distant second in embarrassment is Wisconsin, where the top football player major is “Community/nonprofit leadership and life science communication” (tie). I knew a guy who was very much not an athlete who baaaaarely squeaked by with a degree in communications at the UW (late 80s). It made me reassess his intelligence level. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-s-u-wants-to-trademark-the-word-the/838662.md?page=3)