![]() Ultimately, it’s unlikely that you care about the intellectual property struggles of large corporations, and you’ll probably keep saying “Kleenex” when you really just want a tissue. Cohen noted that it’s possible for a company to recapture a trademark if it can get consumers to associate the brand name with its specific product rather than the product category at large. “They became so famous, people may accidentally associate that name with the action - like Xerox.” Mr. “Some of the names that are made-up words are the ones susceptible to being genericized, because there is no other way to describe it,” Mr. But this strength can become a weakness when it comes to protecting the trademarks against genericization. It’s a paradox that brands with fanciful names that don’t otherwise exist in common language have stronger cases when applying for a trademark. Velcro even made a music video about the issue. Xerox still has its trademark, as do Rollerblade and Clorox, both of which ran similar campaigns. “Xerox had an advertisement that was in a magazine that literally said, ‘If the trademark is misused, it could come undone … please help us ensure it doesn’t.’” “Some big companies have engaged in advertising campaigns to let the public be aware that their name is actually a trademark,” Mr. Other brands have taken more conspicuous approaches. They may even use a distinctive typeface to make the trademark stand out. Companies may also avoid using the plural form of the trademarked word (favoring “Lego bricks,” for instance, over “Legos”). For example, when you see a company using its brand as an adjective (“Use a Xerox copier”) rather than a verb (“Go Xerox this”), it is trying to prevent genericization. Some companies are fighting back against the generic use of their trademarks. There are generic terms for all these products, but when was the last time you packed a box with inflated cushioning, tossed a flying disc or attached anything using hook-and-loop fasteners? Bubble Wrap is a trademark of Sealed Air, Frisbee remains a trademark of Wham-O, and Velcro is trademarked by the company of the same name. There are still plenty of familiar names that hold their trademarks. Escalator, cellophane, and laundromat have all lost their trademark status to genericide. was a seminal case in which Bayer lost its trademark for Aspirin to what experts now refer to as “genericide.” That 1921 case set the table for the modern standard that courts currently follow: If a brand name is understood by the public to refer broadly to a category of goods and services rather than a brand’s specific good or service, a company may be at risk of losing its trademark. “So as a result of that, in trademark law, you cannot trademark things that are descriptive or generic in nature.”īayer Co. “When something becomes so pervasive in everyday society as a result of its own fame, there’s an argument that it no longer represents the brand, it almost represents the action,” Mr. But a company like Johnson & Johnson, which makes the world’s most famous brand of adhesive bandages, might have reason to worry because - theoretically, anyway - that degree of easy familiarity could put it in jeopardy of losing its trademark. You may think nothing of it when you ask for a Band-Aid to cover a cut or scrape. “In everyday usage, people start using that term.” Cohen, an intellectual property lawyer in Los Angeles. “Over time, a brand can be so famous and so ubiquitous that people associate that with the action,” said Michael N. And it can actually cause quite a problem for those companies. You may be aware of Kleenex, Velcro and ChapStick, but what about escalator? Or dumpster? Linoleum, zipper, trampoline? All of these are (or were) trademarks of companies whose products were so successful that they came to represent an entire category. ![]() You’re probably familiar with this phenomenon, but there are more examples of it than you might realize. When you use a brand name as a generic term, you’re using a proprietary eponym, or, more simply, a generic trademark. When you need to blow your nose, there’s a good chance you ask for a Kleenex, even if the box being handed to you doesn’t bear the Kimberly-Clark-owned Kleenex logo.
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