The owners of a bar in Michigan that serves up Buckeye Tears for $7 a pint have answered Ohio State University’s claim that their beer violates federal trademark protections.

OSU’s overreaction to a bit of good-natured ribbing just adds more Buckeye tears to the keg, they claim in papers filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Oct. 6. It’s their lawyer’s response to Ohio State’s opposition of a trademark application by the Brown Jug, a bar and restaurant near the University of Michigan’s campus in Ann Arbor.

“The Buckeye Tears mark … plays into a perception shared by Michigan fans — particularly in the wake of their football team’s four consecutive victories over Ohio State — that Ohio State and its supporters may on occasion act like sore losers,” attorneys from the law firm Fenwick & West wrote on the Brown Jug’s behalf.

“Ohio State’s very filing of the opposition validates that perception,” they wrote.

OSU put itself on record Aug. 27 against the bar’s application for a trademark on Buckeye Tears. The university said the beer would create “a false sense of connection with Ohio State” and damage the university’s “reputation and goodwill.”

Ohio State holds trademarks on the Buckeyes’ name and said it has reaped more than $145 million in royalties from it over the last decade.

The Brown Jug’s lawyers, however, said the word Buckeye is already used for more than 5,700 licensed businesses in Ohio and is a brand name on beer, wine and liquor that OSU has “apparently not seen fit to police.”

“Ohio State called its team of lawyers only when a Michigan small business sought to make a good-natured joke,” he said.

At least one of the eight Buckeyes-named products used as an example, though, is licensed by Ohio State.

OSU spokesman Ben Johnson declined to comment on the Brown Jug’s response, which included another dig at the Buckeyes.

“The generic use of ‘buckeye’ to refer to Ohioans goes back to at least 1788,” wrote the four lawyers, one of whom is a University of Michigan Law School graduate. “In its early meaning, the term ‘buckeye’ was used to convey that Ohioans as a group were ‘untaught’ and ‘awkward.’ It was not until over 100 years later that Ohio State, the leading public institution of higher learning in Ohio, thought that it should also use this word to refer to its students and commercial offerings.”

Bob Vitale can be reached at rvitale@dispatch.com or at @dispatchdining on the Instagram social platform.

“The Ohio Department of Health’s (ODH) inspection of Insight Hospital and Medical Center Trumbull on Tuesday found several significant issues that need to be addressed before the hospital can re-open, to ensure the health and safety of patients. Insight will need to contact ODH once these issues have been addressed. At that point, we will conduct another inspection to verify the standards have been met,” the statement reads. 

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Northeast Ohio finally picked up some much-needed rain to start the week, and more is on the way.

After a soggy Monday and start to Tuesday, conditions will improve through the afternoon. Clouds will linger, but most spots should stay dry with just a slight chance of a stray shower.

This should come as welcome news for the Guardians, who open a three-games series Tuesday night against the Tigers with first place in the AL Central and a possible trip to the postseason at stake.

The lull in precipitation will be short-lived as a new storm system lifts across the Great Lakes Wednesday and brings another round of widespread rain. Showers will spread back into the region during the morning and become steady through the afternoon, with a few thunderstorms possible, according to forecasters with the National Weather Service in Cleveland.

Rainfall totals from this midweek system could reach three-quarters of an inch to more than an inch across parts of Northeast Ohio, according to early projections. Localized higher amounts are possible where thunderstorms develop.

While they could bring higher rainfall totals, any storms that do develop aren’t expected to be severe, according to the Storm Prediction Center. The strongest risk for severe weather will stay well to the south.

Temperatures Wednesday will be limited to the low and mid 70s because of the cloud cover and rainfall. Lingering showers may hang on into Thursday, with highs again in the 70s.

By Friday and Friday night, high pressure will attempt to build in from the Upper Midwest. That should dry out most of Northeast Ohio, though an isolated shower can’t be ruled out.

Drier this weekend

Fortunately, the rain from the week won’t linger into the weekend for most of Northeast Ohio.

A cold front is expected to sweep across the state on Saturday, which could bring some showers to Lake and Ashtabula counties overnight.

By Sunday, the entire region is expected to be dry, though temperatures will turn a bit cooler. Highs on Saturday will reach the mid 70s to near 80 before highs fall back into the low to mid 70s on Sunday and Monday.