University of Michigan tweets hilarious response to Ohio State trying to trademark "THE"

ANN ARBOR – College sports fans had a field day on Twitter Wednesday when the University of Michigan trolled its rival Ohio State for filing a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the word "the" a week ago. 

The reason? It wants to start selling apparel featuring the word in an effort to strengthen and protect its brand.

"Like other institutions, Ohio State works to vigorously protect the university’s brand and trademarks," university spokesman Chris Davey told The Columbus Dispatch in a recent interview. "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."

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But U-M was having none of it. Here's its response:

The tweet has been retweeted more than 5,000 times and liked more than 22,000 times since it was posted on Wednesday.

Ohio University and Buffalo Wild Wings followed suit, while Buckeyes fans photoshopped L's into U-M's original photo to rub in the fact that its football team has fallen to Ohio State's for the past seven seasons. 

We do love a good Twitter battle. Well played, Michigan.

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