Ohio State University has filed a trademark application for the word 'The'

Ohio State University has filed an application with the US Patent and Trademark Office to trademark the word “the”.

The application, filed on Thursday, seeks to trademark the work for use on T-shirts, baseball caps and hats, and was first discovered by Josh Gerben, a trademark lawyer in Washington.

In a video posted to Twitter, Gerben said: “My prediction is this application has issues out of the gate. In order for a trademark to be registered for a brand of clothing, the trademark must be used in a trademark fashion.

“In other words, it has to be used on tagging or labelling for the products. In this case, just putting the word ‘the’ on the front of a hat or on the front of a shirt is not sufficient trademark use.”

According to Gerben, the school is likely to receive “an initial refusal of the application” but will have a chance to amend it.

A spokesperson for the university, which is formally known as The Ohio State University, said in a statement that the application was submitted in an effort to protect the school’s “brand”.

“Like other institutions, Ohio State works to vigorously protect the university’s brand and trademarks,” spokesperson Chris Davey told The Columbus Dispatch. “These assets hold significant value, which benefits our students and faculty and the broader community by supporting our core academic mission of teaching and research.”

As of Wednesday, a link to the trademark application was no longer working.

Ohio State has previously trademarked the names of its football coaches Urban Meyer and Woody Hayes, for use on apparel and toy figurines.

In 2017, the university’s attempt to trademark the acronym OSU for use on apparel was opposed by Oklahoma State University, which goes by the same initials.

The schools reportedly signed an agreement that allowed both to use OSU.

The Independent has contacted Ohio State University for comment.