o$u files a trademark on "the"

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2849560-ohio-state-fi...

Just for fun,I clicked on the OSU FAQ link in the article.

One question is "Who came up with script Ohio ?"

The answer is kind of misleading.

Being a band/drum corps "geek",script Ohio
gets talked about a lot.

The answer they give is technically correct.
Namely, that the OSU band did script Ohio for the first time
in 1936.

They leave out the fact that the first school to do it was
the University of Michigan,in 1932.

Had a chance to talk to OSU's former band director,Dr.Woods (great guy by the way) about it.

He said OSU takes credit for script Ohio,since they were the first band to
do the "animated" formation.

Always thought it was commonly known that the UofM band did the Script to honor the OSU band. Knew that when I was a child. Plus, it’s been reported in National Media, so it’s not like a secret coverup

https://www.si.com/college-football/2015/11/20/history-be...

May be commonly known in Ohio,but not out here on the East coast.

Have won more then a couple of beers betting people who did script Ohio first.

But, as I posted,OSU takes credit for it because they were the first to do it
"animated".

https://twitter.com/ohiou/status/1161643841046245378/phot...

Actually, isn’t Ohio the first University in the Northwest Territories, not just the state of Ohio?

Anyway, the thread that accompanies that tweet is entertaining reading!

Yes, Ohio was chartered as part of the 1787 Northwest Ordinance. It was to be called American Western University. It was established in 1804 as The Ohio University - the The still is on the university crest and on diplomas.

BTW, Northwest Ordinance discussions were held in Boston in the Bunch of Grapes tavern. Explains the name of a room in Baker Center - the old Baker where I had my first Coke date with the girl who would become my wife and the new Baker.

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 had provisions in support of education. The actual land grant for the university was in the contract between the Ohio Company of Associates (a group of Revolutionary veteran land speculators) and the Confederation Congress. This contract set aside land in what is now Athens and Alexander townships of Athens County for "an University." (Hence, the concept of an "An" trademark has some historical precedence!) When the territorial legislature met in 1803 they chartered that university as American Western University. The next year, after statehood, the Ohio General Assembly in its first session chartered us as "The Ohio University," which you correctly point out we only use in seals, diplomas and the like. We are much less pretentious than A&M.

Edit: I have book around here somewhere that lists the land grant in the contract between the Confederation Congress and the OCA as the first American land grant for a university. Let A&M put that it its pipe and smoke it! For the record, all acts of the Confederation Congress were considered binding on the Congress under the Constitution after the Articles of Confederation were superseded by the ratification of the Constitution.

The "The" story made the news on several radio stations out here this morning.

The idea of trademarking "the" for merchandise was met with,to say least,sarcasm and some pretty creative analogies.