NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Genericized trademark

A genericized trademark (also known as a generic trade mark or proprietary eponym) is a trademark or brand name that has become the colloquial or generic description for (or synonymous with) a particular class of product or service. For the 2006 film, see Intellectual Property (film). ... Image File history File links Scale_of_justice_2. ... Not to be confused with copywriting. ... For other uses, see Patent (disambiguation). ... â€œ(TM)â€ redirects here. ... Industrial design rights are intellectual property rights that protect the visual design of objects that are not purely utilitarian. ... A utility model is an intellectual property right to protect inventions. ... A geographical indication (sometimes abbreviated to GI) is a name or sign used on certain products or which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (eg. ... A trade secret is a formula, practice, process, design, instrument, pattern, or compilation of information which is not generally known or reasonably ascertainable, by which a business can obtain an economic advantage over competitors or customers. ... Related rights is a term in copyright law, used in opposition to the term authors rights. The term neighbouring rights is exactly equivalent, and a more literal translation of the original French droits voisins. ... A trade name, also known as a trading name or a business name, is the legal name of a business, or the name which a business trades under for commercial purposes. ... The term domain name has multiple related meanings: A name that identifies a computer or computers on the Internet. ... Sui generis is a (post) Latin expression, literally meaning a scholar like what pradeep is or unique in its characteristics. ... Database rights are a form of exclusive right introduced by European Union Law to those countries which follow EU Law in 1996. ... A mask work is a two or three-dimensional layout of an integrated circuit (IC), i. ... Plant breeders rights, also known as plant variety rights (PVR), are intellectual property rights granted to the breeder of a new variety of plant. ... In European Union member countries, a supplementary protection certificate (SPC) is a sui generis, patent-like, intellectual property right. ... Indigenous intellectual property: is an umbrella legal term used in national and international forums to identify indigenous peoples special rights to claim (from within their own laws) all that their indigenous groups know now, have known, or will know. ... This is a list of topics related to intellectual property. ... â€œ(TM)â€ redirects here. ... This article is about brands in marketing. ... Look up Colloquialism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article is about a term used in economics. ...

A trademark typically becomes "genericized" when the products or services with which it is associated have acquired substantial market dominance or mind share. The term is legally significant in that unless a company works sufficiently to prevent such broad use of its trademark, its intellectual property rights in the trademark may be lost. â€œ(TM)â€ redirects here. ... Market dominance strategies are a type of marketing strategy that classifies firms based on their market share or dominance of an industry. ... For the 2006 film, see Intellectual Property (film). ...

Examples

Classic, well known examples include: For a list of generic and genericized trademarks in languages other than English, see List of non-English generic and genericized trademarks. ... Cite references by quoting mainline publications using the trademark generically // The following list comprises terms which have been registered as trademarks but, through common usage in their language, became either generic (trademark revoked) or genericized (trademark still in force). ...

This article is about the drug. ... Band Aid can refer to: BAND-AID, a brand of adhesive bandage Band Aid, a musical ensemble raising money for famine relief. ... Motto: (traditional) In God We Trust (official, 1956â€“present) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City Official language(s) None at the federal level; English de facto Government Federal Republic - President George W. Bush (R) - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence - Declared - Recognized... A tube of ChapStick ChapStick Flava-Craze ChapStick is the brand name adopted in the United States, Australia, Canada, and United Kingdom by Wyeth Consumer Healthcare for its range of lip balms produced to be used on chapped lips. ... The wave shape (known as the dynamic ribbon device) present on all Coca-Cola cans throughout the world derives from the contour of the original Coca-Cola bottles. ... Historic Southern United States. ... A single-speed MultiPro Dremel Dremel Moto-Tool is the name given to rotary tools developed by Albert J. Dremel, who founded the Dremel Company in 1932 in Racine, Wisconsin. ... A dumpster awaiting pick-up A DumpsterÂ® is a large trash receptacle, and a type of mobile garbage bin or MGB. In British and Australian English, the term skip is more commonly used (although they are not perfect synonyms). ... Frigidaire is a major US appliance company owned by Electrolux. ... A Wham-O Professional Frisbee For the amusement ride, see Frisbee (ride). ... This article is about the corporation. ... Hoover Company logo, originally designed by Henry Dreyfuss The Hoover Company started out as an American floor care manufacturer based in North Canton, Ohio. ... Regular canister vacuum cleaner for home use. ... iPod is a brand of portable media players designed and marketed by Apple Inc. ... JELL-O is a brand name belonging to USA-based Kraft Foods for a number of gelatin desserts, including fruit gels, puddings and no-bake cream pies. ... Jet ski is the brand name of Kawasaki Heavy Industries personal water craft. ... Categories: Animal stubs | Cats as pets ... Kleenex logo This article is about the Kleenex brand. ... A linoleum kitchen floor Linoleum is a floor covering made from solidified linseed oil (linoxyn) in combination with wood flour or cork dust over a burlap or canvas backing. ... Photoshop redirects here. ... Photo manipulation is the technique of modifying a photographic image by either analog or digital means. ... This article is about a brand of ice pop. ... This article is about Q-tips, a brand of cotton swab. ... The most common uses for cotton swabs include aural hygiene and cosmetics application. ... A Rolodex file used in the 1970s. ... Scotch Tape denotes the line of adhesive tapes manufactured by 3M as part of the companys Scotch brand. ... Two large Slurpees in a car cup holder. ... TiVo (pronounced tee-voh, IPA: ) is a popular brand of digital video recorder (DVR) in the United States (and coming to Canada in December 7, 2007) and is a consumer video device which allows users to capture television programming to internal hard disk storage for later viewing (time shifting), provides... Tupperware logo A Tupperware storage container. ... Twizzlers are a low-fat flavored licorice candy manufactured in North America by Y & S Candies - a division of Hershey Foods Corporations. ... Each caplet in this bottle of Extra Strength Tylenol contains a 500 mg dose of acetaminophen (paracetamol). ... Velcro: hooks (left) and loops (right). ... WaveRunner is a brand name for Yamaha Motor Corporations popular line of personal water craft (PWC). ... Windexs flagship product Windex is a trademark for a glass and light-duty hard surface cleaner manufactured since 1933 (currently by S. C. Johnson & Son) and popular in the United States and Canada since the mid-20th century. ... The most common type of X-acto knife, with No. ... a Stanley 99E fully retracted A utility knife (also called a box cutter, a razor blade knife, a carpet knife, or a stationery knife) is a common tool used in various trades and crafts for a variety of purposes. ... For other uses, see Scalpel (disambiguation). ... Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) (name pronounced ) is a global document management company, which manufactures and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction systems, photo copiers, digital production printing presses, and related consulting services and supplies. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Ziploc is a brand of disposable, re-sealable plastic bags and containers originally developed by Dow Chemical Company, and now produced by S. C. Johnson & Son. ... Zipper slider brings together the two sides A zipper (British English: zip fastener or zip) is a popular device for temporarily joining two edges of fabric. ... A lit 1968 slim model Zippo An open full-size Navy Zippo A closed black crackle Zippo A Zippo dismantled for fueling 133ml Zippo Lighter Fluid A Zippo lighter is a refillable, metal lighter manufactured by Zippo Manufacturing Company. ...

Legal concepts

Whether or not a mark is popularly identified as genericized, the owner of the mark may still be able to enforce the proprietary rights which attach to the use or registration of the mark, so long as the mark continues to exclusively identify the owner as the commercial origin of the applicable products or services. If the mark does not perform this essential function and it is no longer possible to legally enforce rights in relation to the mark, the mark may have become generic. In many legal systems (e.g., in the United States but not in Germany) a generic mark forms part of the public domain and can be commercially exploited by anyone. Nevertheless, there exists the possibility of a trade mark to become a revocable generic term in German (and European) trademark law. Proprietary indicates that a party, or proprietor, exercises private ownership, control or use over an item of property, usually to the exclusion of other parties. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

The process by which trademark rights are diminished or lost as a result of common use in the marketplace is sometimes known as genericide. This process typically occurs over a period of time where a mark is not used as a trademark (i.e., where it is not used to exclusively identify the products or services of a particular business), where a mark falls into disuse entirely, or where the trademark owner does not enforce its rights through actions for passing off or trademark infringement. Civil action redirects here. ... For other uses of this term please refer to the passing off disambiguation page. ... Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attaching to a registered trademark without the authorisation of the trademark owner or any licensees (provided that such authorization was within the scope of the license). ...

One risk factor which may lead to genericide is the use of a trademark as a verb, noun, plural or possessive, unless the mark itself is possessive or plural (e.g., "Friendly's" restaurants).^[2] It has been suggested that Verbal agreement be merged into this article or section. ... In linguistics, a noun or noun substantive is a lexical category which is defined in terms of how its members combine with other grammatical kinds of expressions. ... Look up plural in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Possessive can refer to: Possessive case Possessive pronoun This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Avoiding genericide

Trademark owners will naturally seek to maximize the popularity of their marks, and may believe that a certain level of genericity demonstrates how well-known and successful a mark has become. However, generic use of a trademark presents an inherent risk to the effective enforcement of trademark rights and may ultimately lead to genericide.

Trademark owners may take various steps to reduce the risk of genericide, including educating businesses and consumers on appropriate trademark use, avoiding use of their marks in a generic manner, and systematically and effectively enforcing their trademark rights. If a trademark is associated with a new invention, the trademark owner may also consider developing a generic term for the product to be used in descriptive contexts, in order to avoid inappropriate use of the "house" mark. Such a term is called a generic descriptor, and is frequently used immediately after the trademark to provide a description of the product or service. For example, "Kleenex tissues" (tissues being the generic descriptor) or "Velcro fasteners" (fasteners being the generic descriptor). For the musical form, see Invention (music). ...

Where a trademark is used generically, a trademark owner may need to take special proactive measures in order to retain exclusive rights to the trademark. Xerox provides one successful example of a company which was able to prevent the genericide of its core trademark through an extensive public relations campaign advising consumers to "photocopy" instead of "Xeroxing" documents (the brand did become generic in Russian, Bulgarian, Portuguese and Romanian, though. See list of generic and genericized trademarks). Another common practice amongst trademark owners is to 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." Google has gone to lengths to prevent this process, discouraging publications from using the term 'googling' in reference to web-searches. This led New Scientist's Feedback section to coin the neologism FWSEing, in reference to the Famous Web Search Engine.^[3] In 2006, "google" has been defined in the Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary as a verb meaning "to use the Google search engine to obtain information on the Internet."^[4]^[5] In law, an exclusive right is the power or right to perform an action in relation to an object or other thing which others cannnot perform. ... Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) (name pronounced ) is a global document management company, which manufactures and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction systems, photo copiers, digital production printing presses, and related consulting services and supplies. ... A small, much-used Xerox copier in a high school library. ... For a list of generic and genericized trademarks in languages other than English, see List of non-English generic and genericized trademarks. ... Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is a global American pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer packaged goods manufacturer founded in 1886. ... Band Aid can refer to: BAND-AID, a brand of adhesive bandage Band Aid, a musical ensemble raising money for famine relief. ... This article is about the corporation. ... New Scientist is a weekly international science magazine covering recent developments in science and technology for a general English-speaking audience. ... A neologism is a word, term, or phrase which has been recently created (or coined), often to apply to new concepts, to synthesize pre-existing concepts, or to make older terminology sound more contemporary. ... Look up google in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Merriam-Webster, originally known as the G. & C. Merriam Company of Springfield, Massachusetts, is a United States company that publishes reference books, especially dictionaries that are descendants of Noah Websters An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). ... The Oxford English Dictionary print set The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a dictionary published by the Oxford University Press (OUP), and is the most successful dictionary of the English language, (not to be confused with the one-volume Oxford Dictionary of English, formerly New Oxford Dictionary of English, of...

One example of an active effort to prevent the genericization of a trademark was that of the Lego company, which printed in manuals in the 1970s and 1980s a request to customers that they call the company's interlocking plastic building blocks "'Lego blocks' or 'toys' and not 'Legos'." While this went largely unheeded, and many children and adults referred to the pieces as "Legos", use of the deprecated term remained largely confined to the Lego company's own products – and not, for example, to Tyco's competing and interchangeable product – so genericization of the Lego trademark did not occur.

Terminology

The terms genericide and genericized trademark are not terms of art; legally, genericide is a malapropism. Alternative terms have been suggested by various commentators, such as the judge in Plasticolor Molded Products v. Ford Motor Company, who suggested genericization or trademarkicide,^[6] a member of Cecil Adams's contributing board who suggested brand eponym in The Straight Dope Mailbag,^[7] and others who have suggested proprietary eponym. However, to date only genericide has been used in legal literature.^[8] Technical terminology is the specialised vocabulary of a profession or of some other activity to which a group of people dedicate significant parts of their lives (for instance, hobbies or a particular segment of industry). ... Look up malapropism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Cecil Adams is a name, generally assumed to be a pseudonym, which designates the unknown author or authors of The Straight Dope, a popular question and answer column published in The Chicago Reader since 1973. ... Cecil Adams is the pen name of the author of The Straight Dope since 1973, a popular question and answer column published in The Chicago Reader, syndicated in thirty newspapers in the United States and Canada, and available online. ...

Opposite effect in other legislation

The section above describes the situation in countries such as the United States, where a genericization causes a trademark to lose its protection, a consequence the trademark owner might wish to avoid. In other countries, e.g. in Germany, a trademark stays protected even after genericization. In this case, the outcome is very positive for the owner; the customer might not even know the proper non-trademarked term for the product, or consider this term as very artificial sounding and/or inconvenient, and hence associates only the trademark owner's product with the whole range of products, possibly even being ignorant about alternatives.

The classic example is Bayer's trademark for the drug Aspirin. A customer at a pharmacy is more likely to ask for "Aspirin" than for "acetylsalicylic acid tablets",^{[citation needed]} which is the name all manufacturers of generic versions of the drug are forced to use in order not to infringe the trademark. In the United States, Bayer lost the trademark to the word "aspirin" after World War I. In 1921, a landmark ruling by Learned Hand established "aspirin" as a genericized trademark.^[9] Bayer AG (IPA pronunciation //) (ISIN: DE0005752000, NYSE: BAY, TYO: 4863 ) is a German chemical and pharmaceutical company founded in Barmen, Germany in 1863. ... This article is about the drug. ... Billings Learned Hand (January 27, 1872 â€“ August 18, 1961) â€” usually called simply Learned Hand â€” was a famed American judge and an avid supporter of free speech, though he is most remembered for applying economic reasoning to American tort law. ...

Protected designation of origin

Since 2003, the European Union has actively sought to restrict the use of geographical indications by third parties outside the EU by enforcing laws regarding what is known as "protected designation of origin". Although a geographical indication for specialty food or drink may be generic, it is not a trademark because it does not serve to exclusively identify a specific commercial enterprise, and therefore cannot constitute a genericized trademark. Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A geographical indication (sometimes abbreviated to GI) is a name or sign used on certain products or which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (eg. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Protected geographical indications in the European Union. ...

The extension of protection for geographical indications is somewhat controversial because a geographical indication may have been registered as a trademark elsewhere. For example, if "Parma Ham" were part of a trademark registered in Canada by a Canadian manufacturer, ham manufacturers actually located in Parma, Italy might be unable to use this name in Canada. Bordeaux, cheeses such as Roquefort, Parmesan, and Feta, Pisco liquor, and Scotch whisky are examples of geographical indications. In the 1990s, the Parma consortium successfully sued the Asda supermarket chain to prevent it using the description "Parma ham" on prosciutto produced in Parma but sliced outside the region. This article is about the Italian city. ... Bordeaux with sub-wine regions A Bordeaux wine is any wine produced in the Bordeaux region of France. ... Roquefort is a flavorful ewes-milk blue cheese from the south of France, and one of the most famous of all French cheeses. ... Parmesan cheese. ... Feta (Greek Ï†ÎÏ„Î±, feminine gender) is a classic curd cheese in brine whose tradition dates back to Greece thousands of years ago. ... Scotch whisky is whisky made in Scotland. ... For the band, see 1990s (band). ... This article is about the supermarket chain. ... Packaged food aisles in a Fred Meyer store in Portland, Oregon A supermarket is a departmentalized self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise. ... Prosciutto Prosciutto (IPA: ) is the Italian word for ham, used in English to refer to dry-cured ham (prosciutto crudo). ...

Non-trademarks

Some common names for products or services are popularly believed to be genericized trademarks. For example, it is often thought that the common names for wines such as port and sherry are genericized trademarks. This is not the case because the names were never originally created or used as trademarks. A glass of tawny port. ... A glass of amontillado Sherry For other uses, see Sherry (disambiguation). ...

In some cases companies have managed to register common names as trade marks, but this typically results in the eventual cancellation or surrender of the registration concerned. This has occurred in the United States in relation to rooibos.^[10] Binomial name (N.L.Burm. ...

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