COLUMBUS, Ohio — After trademarking the name of current Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer, the university has done the same with a predecessor, Woody Hayes.
The university filed for the trademark earlier this year from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
The director of trademark and licensing services at Ohio State, Rick Van Brimmer, said the school has used the late coach's name or face on T-shirts, hats and bobblehead figures over the years. He said it started "innocently" with the name "Woody" on the back of a hat, just like the kind the coach wore.
The director sought out Hayes' widow, Anne Hayes, to determine what to do about royalties.
"The family has always been wonderful," Van Brimmer said. "They've never received anything. They've directed royalties to Woody Hayes and/or Anne Hayes scholarship funds."
After Anne Hayes' death in 1998, the university began discussing royalties with the couple's son, Steven Hayes.
"As Steve and I talked, we realized that nothing was in writing or formalized and we weren't going to live forever," Van Brimmer said. "We realized there was a need to formalize our relationship with the family and how we use the name."
That prompted the university to file for the trademark on Jan. 27.
Hayes had a 205-61-10 record at Ohio State from 1951-1978. He died in 1987.
