Ohio State
Trademark: Ohio State
First Used: 1878
Registered: April 28, 1981
Current Owner: The Ohio State University [1]
Trademark Type: traditional trademark; word mark
Primarily Associated With: providing college sport exhibition events and recreation programs, providing dramatical and musical entertainment events and providing college level educational courses [2]
Brief (and likely incomplete) History:
Congratulations to Ohio State for advancing through the College Football Playoffs to the 2025 College Football National Championship Game! This week we will be highlighting some college football championship related trademark registrations, including those owned by Notre Dame and Ohio State University. Good luck Ohio State!
We hope for a great game on the field, but based on trademark portfolios it isn’t close. OHIO STATE® [3], OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY® [4], THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY® [5], OSU® [6], whatever trademarked name you want to call them (maybe not whatever name you want, looking at you Michigan fans), the school has one awesome collection of trademark registrations, including a can’t-believe-it’s-registered word mark and several unique non-traditional trademarks. Let’s check them out!
Keep it short and simple – The Ohio State has a trademark registration for THE® [7]. Yep, just THE®, registered in connection with clothing “promoted, distributed, and sold through channels customary to the field of sports and collegiate athletics.” The registration was not easy to secure and took 3 years of arguments and evidence in order to persuade the Trademark Office.
Of course, Ohio State also owns several design mark registrations for its logos, including the OSU Logo [8], the O Logo [9], and the Buckeye Mascot Logo [10]. All of these design marks are registered in connection with various goods and services, including entertainment services, namely, providing college level sport exhibition events and recreation programs and clothing, among others.
On the non-traditional trademark side, Ohio State owns several registrations protecting the unique design and coloring of their football uniforms and jerseys. For full football uniforms, Ohio State has registrations for the Scarlet and Grey Uniform [11] and the White and Grey Uniform [12] configuration marks, each registered in connection with entertainment services, namely, collegiate football games and exhibitions. And for jerseys, Ohio State owns registrations for the Scarlet Long-Length Sleeve Jersey [13], the Scarlet Short-Length Sleeve Jersey [14], the White Mid-Length Sleeve #7 Jersey [15], and the Scarlet Mid-Length Sleeve #7 Jersey [16] configuration marks, each registered for clothing, namely, football jerseys. Whichever uniform or jersey they go with Monday night, good luck OSU!
Interested in learning more about trademarks from other 2025 sporting events? Check out our 2025 posts on Super Bowl, March Madness (and Final Four), Stanley Cup, NBA Finals, WNBA Finals, World Series, and MLS Cup.
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[1] Football, OHIO STATE ATHLETICS, https://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/football.
[2] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,152,682, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73042962&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[3] Id.
[4] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,294,115, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73394199&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[5] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 6,280,149, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=88749402&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[6] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,121,595, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73042961&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[7] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 6,763,118, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=88571984&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[8] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 4,005,124, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85113933&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[9] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 4,458,983, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85935543&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[10] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 4,028,867, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85259066&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[11] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 4,683,332, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85116716&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[12] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 4,683,333, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85116758&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[13] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 5,117,747, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=86944174&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[14] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 5,435,839, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=86945455&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[15] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 7,416,898, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=97237623&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[16] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 7,416,899, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=97237684&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.