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Ohio State trademarks Urban Meyer's name

Ohio State coach Urban Meyer's name is now trademarked.

According to the Columbus Dispatch, Ohio State has trademarked "Urban Meyer" and "Urban Meyer Knows." The trademarks were granted on July 7.

Half of the royalties in those cases will go to Ohio State and the other half to Meyer, who plans to funnel such funds to a family foundation.

“It’s not uncommon for celebrities and people in the public to seek protection of their name and likeness,” said Rick Van Brimmer, director of trademark and licensing services at Ohio State.

Van Brimmer also told the Dispatch it was the first time that the school had trademarked a coach's name.

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You may be wondering why "Urban Meyer Knows" was trademarked. We're guessing it has something to do with the school's apparel agreement with Nike. Remember the "(Player name) Knows" shirts? Since schools can't put the name of athletes on apparel, Meyer is pretty much the only Ohio State football option to have a name on a shirt.

Former Texas A&M and current Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel was embroiled in a controversy about the "Johnny Football" trademark in his final year at Texas A&M. As Kenny Hill, Manziel's (brief) successor at quarterback, shone brightly in the first part of the 2014 season, his parents moved to trademark "Kenny Trill." Hill is now at TCU after losing his starting job.

Former Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston, now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has also moved to trademark "Famous Jameis."

For more Ohio State news, visit BuckeyeGrove.com.

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!