"Genericide" redirects here. Not to be confused with Gendercide or Genocide.
See also: List of generic and genericized trademarks
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Generic trademark" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(December 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Intellectual property
Authors' rights
Copyleft
Copyright
Database right
Farmers' rights
Geographical indication
Indigenous intellectual property
Industrial design right
Integrated circuit layout design protection
Moral rights
Patent
Peasants' rights
Plant breeders' rights
Plant genetic resources
Related rights
Supplementary protection certificate
Trade dress
Trade secret
Trademark
Utility model
Related topics
Abandonware
Artificial intelligence and copyright
Brand protection
Copyright abolition
Copyright troll
Criticism of copyright
Bioprospecting
Biopiracy
Idea–expression distinction
Limitations and exceptions to copyright
Fair dealing
Fair use
Paraphrasing
Right to quote
Orphan work
Patent troll
Pirate Party
Public domain
Outline of intellectual property
Outline of patents
Higher categories: Property and Property law
v
t
e
A generic trademark, also known as a genericized trademark or proprietary eponym, is a trademark or brand name that, because of its popularity or significance, has become the generic term for, or synonymous with, a general class of products or services, usually against the intentions of the trademark's owner.
A trademark is prone to genericization, or "genericide",[1][2] when a brand name acquires substantial market dominance or mind share, becoming so widely used for similar products or services that it is no longer associated with the trademark owner, e.g., linoleum, bubble wrap, thermos, taser.[3] A trademark thus popularized is at risk of being challenged or revoked, unless the trademark owner works sufficiently to correct and prevent such broad use.[4][5][6]
Trademark owners can inadvertently contribute to genericization by failing to provide an alternative generic name for their product or service or using the trademark in similar fashion to generic terms.[7] In one example, the Otis Elevator Company's trademark of the word "escalator" was cancelled following a petition from Toledo-based Haughton Elevator Company. In rejecting an appeal from Otis, an examiner from the United States Patent and Trademark Office cited the company's own use of the term "escalator" alongside the generic term "elevator" in multiple advertisements without any trademark significance.[8] Therefore, trademark owners go to extensive lengths to avoid genericization and trademark erosion.
^Shenker, Israel (1972-11-20). "Trade Names Come and Go and Now There's — Exxon". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
^"genericide". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
^Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Fisher, William (n.d.). "Overview of Trademark Law". Harvard Law School. "Under some circumstances, terms that are not originally generic can become generic over time (a process called "genericity"), and thus become unprotected."
^Hyra, Clifford D. "How Long Does a Trademark Last?". Patents 101. Hyra IP, PLC. Archived from the original on 25 January 2010.
^"Invalidity and revocation (cancellation)". European Union Intellectual Property Office. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
^"Entertainment Title Duplication Cases: A Process of Evolution". Indiana Law Journal. 39 (110). 1963-10-01. ISSN 0019-6665.
^"Haughton Elevator Company v. Seeberger". The Trade-Mark Reporter. 40: 326. 1950. (Thus, in the Architectural FORUM for March 1946, appears an advertisement beginning as follows: "Otis elevators Otis escalators." From this it is seen that the word "escalators" is used generically or descriptively and without any trademark significance just as is the word "elevators." Also, in the same magazine for January 1946, on page 184 thereof, appears the advertisement of the Otis Elevator Company with the name "OTIS," in a circle, prominently displayed near the middle of the page, beneath which is this notation in bold letters "THE MEANING OF THE OTIS TRADEMARK." Beneath this, in part, is the following: "To the millions of daily passengers on the Otis elevators and escalators, the Otis trademark or name plate means safe, convenient, energy-saving transportation. To thousands of building owners and managers, the Otis trademark means the utmost in safe, efficient economical elevator and escalator operation." It is obvious to me from this advertisement that the trademark emphasis is on the word "Otis" and its significant mark because here, again, the word "escalator" or "escalators" is written in small letters and in the same manner and same context as the word "elevator" or "elevators" which obviously has no trademark significance.)
A generictrademark, also known as a genericizedtrademark or proprietary eponym, is a trademark or brand name that, because of its popularity or significance...
three lists of generic and genericizedtrademarks are: marks which were originally legally protected trademarks, but have been genericized and have lost...
is widespread legal advice that trademark owners should always use their trademarks as adjectives modifying a generic product name, and set off with capitalization...
protectable. "Generic" terms are used to refer to the product or service itself and cannot be used as trademarks. In United States trademark law, Abercrombie...
lowers, on the spot. The word is a generictrademark of Dumpster, an American brand name for a specific design. Generic usage of skip, or wheelie bin may...
similar things not protected by trademarkGeneric brand, a brand for a product that does not have an associated brand or trademark, other than the trading name...
product in general. The generic term for a product or service cannot be trademarked. Granting trademark rights on a generic term-say "apple" for use...
tissues. Often used informally as a genericizedtrademark for facial tissue[citation needed], it is a registered trademark of Kimberly-Clark, applied to products...
construction industry is known as a Stanley knife. This name is a generictrademark named after Stanley Works, a manufacturer of such knives. In Israel...
Ugg boots trademark disputes are the disputes between some footwear manufacturers, as to whether "ugg" is a protected trademark, or a generic term and...
Kubotan is a genericizedtrademark for a self-defense keychain weapon developed by Sōke Takayuki Kubota in the late 1960s. It is typically no more than...
Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration...
case-sensitive and are listed in uppercase by trademark registrars such as the United States Patent and Trademark Office, even if they are always cased in...
things not protected by trademarkGenerictrademark, a brand name that has become the generic name for a product or service Generic name (pharmaceuticals)...
in German-speaking countries, commonly known there as spezi, the generictrademark of the first brand of that type of soda. Mezzo Mix is sold and produced...
Polystyrene, among which it being non-biodegradable. List of generic and genericizedtrademarks National Inventors Hall of Fame Resin identification code...
been used as a generictrademark to refer to other distribution platforms of a similar nature.[unreliable source?] Apple asserted trademark claims over the...
was registered as a trademark by Nova Scotia geologist and inventor Abraham Gesner in 1854 before evolving into a generictrademark. It is sometimes spelled...
in the 1950s, and the original term became a registered trademark and later a generictrademark for highly efficient filters. HEPA filters are used in...
some countries the term "Transit" has passed into common usage as a generictrademark applying to any light commercial van in the Transit's size bracket...
(also called copier or copy machine, and formerly Xerox machine, the generictrademark) is a machine that makes copies of documents and other visual images...
carbon disulfide. "Cellophane" is a generic term in some countries, while in other countries it is a registered trademark. Cellulose from wood, cotton, hemp...
such, an ice resurfacer is often referred to as a "Zamboni" as a genericizedtrademark. The first ice resurfacer was invented by Frank Zamboni, who was...
Although "Azipod" is a registered brand name, it is sometimes used as a generictrademark for podded propulsion units manufactured by other companies. In the...
even if the name had been registered as a trademark, it was by now so widely used that it had become generic, only 14 years after its invention. It is...