Ohio State University is attempting to trademark a single word.
The school last week applied to copyright the word "the" - one of the most common in the English language - in advance of a new clothing line. Other vendors already offer clothing with the word featured in scarlet and gray. The school started putting the word in front of its name as a marketing ploy, hoping to attract higher quality students by creating an image of OSU as the "Harvard of the midwest." Copyright experts say they do not expect the application will be approved.
