Genericized trademark
Genericized trademarks (or, in
British English,
genericised trademarks) are former brand names, once legally protected as trademarks, which have since come to signify a generic product regardless of its manufacturer.
Legal Protection
\nTrademarks, unlike other forms of intellectual property such as copyrights and patents, must be actively used and defended. A copyright or patent holder may simply "sit on" his creation and prevent its use, but a trademark owner claiming and even registering a trademark that fails to make active use of it, or fails to defend it against infringement may lose the exclusive right to use it. Further, if a court rules that a formerly trademarked term has become so successful in gaining mind share and becomes "generic" through common use (and so the average consumer doesn't realize it is a trademark), it may also be ruled invalid. A trademark may also become generic if the owner of the trademark registration fails to comply with the registration requirements.
The genericization of a trademark sometimes results because the trademark is the name of something protected by other intellectual property rights, especially patents. Since the patent gives an inventor the exclusive right to manufacture a product for a period of time, consumers will only know that product by the inventor's trademark for the duration of the patent. When the patent expires, the inventor's competitors begin producing their own versions, but using the inventor's trademark to name their product because this is the name by which the general public identifies such items. (This is also the rationale for not protecting a generic trademark, because that would effectively allow the inventor to extend patent protection indefinitely.) One patent that lost its trademark status in this way is Thomas Edison's mimeograph.
Trademark owners should never use the trademark as a verb or noun, implying the word is generic. Likewise, using the trademark as a plural or possessive (i.e. a noun) will imply the trademark is generic. If the trademark is associated with a patent, the patent holder may need to emphasize a descriptive term for the product that is distinguished from the trademark as a brand name.
Trademark owners whose trademark is commonly used by consumers may have to take special proactive measures. Xerox took out ads advising consumers to "photocopy" instead of "Xeroxing" documents. In a less drastic but more common practice, many owners follow their trademark with the word "brand" to help define the word as a trademark. Johnson & Johnson changed the lyrics of their BAND-AID television commercial jingle from, "I am stuck on BAND-AIDs, 'cause BAND-AID's stuck on me" to "I am stuck on BAND-AID brand, 'cause BAND-AID's stuck on me."
The concept of genericized trademarks is parodied in the 1993 film Demolition Man where Taco Bell is used as the generic word for "restaurant"; even fine dining establishments. (In releases of the film outside of North America, Pizza Hut was dubbed in[1].)
European Union
\nIn 2003 the European Union is seeking to restrict the use of region names as trademarks for speciality food and drink to manufacturers from the region. Extending these restrictions outside Europe is controversial because regional names that are trademarks within Europe are often considered generic in other countries. It is made even more difficult where regional names have been trademarked outside Europe, such as Parma ham, which is trademarked in Canada by a Canadian manufacturer, preventing the manufacturers from Parma from using their own name. Products affected include Champagne, Bordeaux and many other wine names, Roquefort, Parmesan and Feta cheese, Scotch whisky and Parma ham. In the 1990s the Parma consortium successfully sued the Asda supermarket chain to prevent it using the trademark Parma on ham not produced and packed in Parma. See Protected Designation of Origin.
Former trademarks now used generically
\n*Allen wrench - hexagonal screwdriver (A rarity among generic words, 'Allen wrench' is no longer trademarked, but is still capitalized because it is named after a company)\n*aspirin - ASA (acetylsalicylic acid; still trademarked in Canada)\n*cellophane - transparent paper\n*celluloid - film material\n*cola - soft drink; genericized part of Coca-Cola (see definition 2 at [1] - adding machine\n*dry ice - frozen carbon dioxide\n*escalator - moving staircase\n*gramophone - record player\n*granola - oats and fruit bar\n*heroin - narcotic drug; originally registered by Bayer as a pain reliever\n*jungle gym - play structure (from 'Junglegym')\n*LP - long playing record\n*linoleum - floor covering\n*merry widow - strapless corset\n*mimeograph - reproduction machine\n*photostat - reproduction machine\n*pianola - player piano\n*pogo stick - bouncing stick (trademark was one word, 'Pogo')\n*shredded wheat - cereal literally made of shredded wheat formed into pillow-shaped biscuits\n*spandex - polyurethane fiber; an anagram of "expands" [1] - originally a type of medication\n*tarmac - runway\n*Webster's Dictionary - the publishers with the strongest link to the original are Merriam-Webster, but they have a trademark only on "Merriam-Webster", and other dictionaries are legally published as "Webster's Dictionary" [1] [1] - toy\n*zeppelin - dirigible\n*zipper
Current trademarks that are often used generically
\n(This is necessarily a "subjective" list.)
- Airfix (UK) - plastic model\n*Aqua-Lung - Scuba\n*Artex - textured interior wall and ceiling plaster\n*AstroTurf - artificial grass\n*Baggies - food bags\n*BAND-AID - self adhesive bandage\n*Bic - ball point pen (French)\n*Breathalyzer - breath alcohol analyzer made by Draeger Safety, Inc.\n*Bubble Wrap - air-filled plastic packing material\n*Chap Stick - lip balm\n*Cheetos - puffed cheese snacks\n*Coke (short for Coca-cola) - cola\n*Crock-Pot - slow cooker\n*Dictaphone - dictation recorder\n*Dixie cups - disposable bathroom cups\n*Drizabone - waterproof overcoat (Australian usage)\n*Dumpster - large trash can\n*Elastoplast - self adhesive bandage\n*Esky - cooler box (Australian usage)\n*Ethernet - IEEE 802.3 LAN protocol\n*Fiberglass - glass fiber\n*Friend - spring loaded camming device\n*Frisbee - flying disc\n*Formica (plastic) - laminated plastic surface\n*GoKart - mini racing cars\n*Hoover - vacuum cleaner\n*Hula Hoop - dancing ring\n*Jacuzzi - whirlpool bath\n*Jaws of Life - rescue tool\n*JCB - hydraulic digger\n*Jeep - army vehicle\n*Jet Ski - motorized watercraft\n*Jetway - Moveable bridges used at airports\n*Jell-O - gelatin dessert\n*Kleenex - tissue\n*Krazy Glue - cyanoacrylate adhesive\n*Laundromat - self-service laundry\n*LEGO - a toy with interlocking blocks\n*Liquid Paper - correction fluid\n*Magic Marker - felt-tip marker\n*Masonite - fiberboard\n*Milk-Bone - dog treats\n*Moxie - soft drink (but used generically to mean energy, courage, or know-how)\n*Muzak - background music\n*Nikko pen — broad, permanent, felt pen (Australian usage)\n*Nilla Wafers - vanilla wafer cookies\n*Ouija - letters on a board game\n*Pablum - baby cereal\n*Perspex (UK) - Clear plastic (acrylic) sheeting\n*PG - parental guidance movie rating as are PG 13, G\n*Photoshop - image editing software, also as a verb, to digitally edit an image \n*Ping-Pong - table tennis[1] - theatre program\n*Plexiglas - clear plastic sheets\n*Portacabin (UK) - relocatable buildings\n*Post-It - self-adhering notepaper\n*Polaroid - instant photography\n*Popsicle - quiescently frozen confection\n*Prozac - antidepressant\n*Q-tips - cotton swabs\n*Quaalude - drug methaqualone\n*Quonset - instant hut\n*Rawlplug - plug to give screws something to bite on (invented by J J Rawlings in 1919)\n*Realtor - real estate agent [1] - blackcurrent cordial\n*Rolodex - rotary card file\n*Rollerblade - inline roller skates\n*Roquefort - type of cheese\n*Saran or Saranwrap - transparent plastic wrap\n*Scotch tape - transparent adhesive tape\n*Sellotape - transparent adhesive tape\n*Sharpie - marking and writing pens\n*SHEETROCK - plasterboard/drywall [1] - wet/dry vacuum\n*Skidoo - snowmobile\n*Skivvies - underwear\n*Spackle - wall filling compound\n*SPAM - packaged meat\n*Speedo - tight-fitting swimsuit\n*Stetson - cowboy hat\n*Styrofoam - polystyrene filler\n*Superglue - cyanoacrylate adhesive\n*Tabasco - hot spicy sauce\n*Taser - electric shock stun gun\n*TelePrompTer - electronic speech notes\n*Teflon - non-stick surface\n*Thermos - vacuum flask\n*Tippex - correction fluid\n*TiVo - digital video recorder\n*Tupperware - food storage ware\n*Tylenol - acetaminophen tablets\n*Valium - tranquillizer\n*Vaseline - petroleum jelly\n*Velcro - re-usable fastening tape\n*VHS - videotape format\n*Viagra - (TM 1998) drugs to enhance or prolong sexual performance\n*Walkman - portable radio\n*Windbreaker - light jacket\n*Windex - spray glass cleaner\n*Wite-Out - correction fluid\n*Xeriscape - water conservation landscaping\n*Xerox - photocopying\n*Zamboni - ice resurfacing machine\n*ZIP Code - postal code\n*Ziploc bags - zipper storage bags\n*Zodiac - inflatable boat
Non-trademarks
Some words are popularly believed to be trademarks, or to have begun as trademarks, when this is not really the case:
See also
\n*trademark\n*trademark dilution\n*brand\n*brand management
External links
\n*Time Magazine article on regional trademarking
Category:Trademark law
