Sort of. I know it’s super broad and badly worded (and, as folks have pointed out, is probably meant as a stunt to draw attention to this marketing idea) but the USPTO application is specifically for the word THE as the graphic on clothing – with no font/colors/graphic specified. So the word ‘the’ as part of a sentence wouldn’t be affected. Just other people trying to sell shirts with a big THE on them all by itself. Which is why Cory’s headline is extremely misleading.
I don’t think that’s correct. In the application, you need to specify what the trademark is for, i.e., what it consists of and what will be appearing on the merchandise. Here’s what they specify as the literal elements of the mark:
In other words, this is a trademark for a big (or small, or tiny) THE with nothing else.
