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"Hurry Up No Huddle" T-shirts have been sold at J&M Bookstore in Auburn. (Amber Sutton | asutton@al.com)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- The company of Auburn coach Gus Malzahn recently filed an application to trademark the phrase "Hurry Up No Huddle," the latest trend in coaches and universities creatively defining their rights and financial interests.

Malzahn's Arkansas-based company called HUNH, LLC, applied on Nov. 13 for the phrase that's often associated with the coach's up-tempo offense, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office records show. The application says the trademark is for glassware and clothing. The company HUNH, LLC, was incorporated in February 2012, according to state records in Arkansas.

J&M Bookstore in Auburn has sold "HUNH" T-shirts this year for $17.99. The back of the shirts say: "QUIT YOUR WHINING (YOU GET 3 TIME-OUTS)." As a high school coach in Arkansas, Malzahn wrote the book, "The Hurry-Up, No-Huddle: An Offensive Philosophy."

Earlier this month, USA Today published a story about the growing number of college football coaches with trademarked names. It comes at a time when there's debate and court cases over NCAA rules preventing college athletes from being paid for use of their names, images and likenesses.

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney has trademarked his name and has a deal with Clemson's licensing program to sell merchandise that bears his name. Ohio State is in the process of trademarking coach Urban Meyer's name and the phrase "Urban Meyer Knows."

IMG College, the marketer of Auburn athletics, filed opposition this month against C.O. Branded Corporation's application to trademark "Gus Bus" for apparel. IMG says it owns certain personal, appearance and endorsement rights of Malzahn, including the term "Gus Bus."

"Since as early as 2012, Coach Malzahn's successful football coaching style and the success of his teams have resulted in his coaching philosophy and methods being known as the 'Gus Bus,'" IMG College attorney Michael Drucker wrote in opposition. "The words 'Gus Bus' have been used to identify Coach Malzahn and his coaching methods, philosophies, and successes at multiple universities at which he has coached football."

IMG claims it stands to make "considerable revenue" from the use of marks of Malzahn. Allowing C.O. Branded Corporation to trademark "Gus Bus" would falsely represent that Malzahn has endorsed products on which it is used, IMG says.

As long as he coaches Auburn, Malzahn assigns all of his personal endorsement rights to the university in exchange for $900,000 per year, according to Malzahn's employment contract. Malzahn keeps his rights for instructional-type videos or publications unless he used footage or photos of Auburn games or videos.