List of generic and genericized trademarks

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Contents 1 List of former trademarks that have become generic terms 2 List of protected trademarks frequently used as generic terms 3 Notes 4 References

[edit] List of former trademarks that have become generic terms

The following list contains marks which were originally legally protected trademarks, but which have subsequently lost legal protection as trademarks by becoming the common name of the relevant product or service, as used both by the consuming public and commercial competitors. Some marks retain trademark protection in certain countries despite being declared generic in others.

Aspirin

Still a Bayer trademark name for acetylsalicylic acid in about 80 countries, including Canada and many countries in Europe, but declared generic in the U.S.^[1]

Catseye

Originally a trademark for a specific type of retroreflective road safety installation, now a generic term.^[2]

Cellophane^[3]

Originally a trademark of DuPont.^[4]

Dry ice^[5]

Trademarked by the Dry Ice Corporation of America in 1925.^[6]

Escalator

Originally a trademark of Otis Elevator Company.^[7]

Freeware

Trademarked in the early 1980s by Andrew Fluegelman, but the trademark status was abandoned following Fluegelman's disappearance and presumed death.^[8][9][10]

Heroin^[11]

Trademarked by Friedrich Bayer & Co in 1898.^[12]:

Hoover

This is a trademarked product from the Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio. Its popularity, mainly in the United Kingdom, led to vacuum cleaners being referred to as Hoovers.^[13][14]

Kerosene^[15]

First used around 1852.

Lanolin

Trademarked as the term for a preparation of sheep fat and water.^[16]

Laundromat

coin laundry shop.^[17]

Linoleum

Floor covering,^[18] originally coined by Frederick Walton in 1864, and ruled as generic following a lawsuit for trademark infringement in 1878; probably the first product name to become a generic term.^[19]

Mimeograph^[20]

Originally trademarked by Albert Dick.

Pilates exercise system

United States trademark formally canceled by court in 2000.^[21]

Thermos

Originally a Thermos GmbH^[22] trademark name for a vacuum flask; declared generic in the U.S. in 1963.^[23]

Touch-tone

Dual tone multi-frequency telephone signaling; AT&T states "formerly a trademark of AT&T".^[24]

Trampoline

Originally trademarked by George Nissen^[25][26] for the generic "rebound tumbler"

Videotape

Originally trademarked by Ampex Corporation.^[27], an early manufacturer of audio and video tape recorders.

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".^[28]

Yo-Yo

Still a Papa's Toy Co. Ltd. trademark name for a spinning toy in Canada, but declared generic in the U.S. in 1965.^[29]

Zipper

Originally a trademark of B.F. Goodrich.^[30]

[edit] List of protected trademarks frequently used as generic terms

Marks in this list are still legally protected as trademarks, but are sometimes used by consumers in a generic sense. Unlike the names in the list above, these names are still widely known by the public as brand names, and are not used by competitors. Scholars disagree as to whether the use of a recognized trademark name for similar products can truly be called "generic", or if it is instead a form of synechdoche.^[31] The previous list contains trademarks that have lost their legal status in some countries, while the following list contains marks which have been registered as trademarks, continue in use, and are actively enforced by their trademark owners. Writing guides such as the AP Stylebook advise writers to "use a generic equivalent unless the trademark is essential to the story."

Trademarked name	Generic name	Trademark owner	Notes
Aqualung (was often genericised in Britain)	Open-circuit scuba set	Siebe Gorman, Cousteau-Gagnan patent	As a result of much unsupervised colloquial use by British scuba diving clubs including in their printed publications.
AstroTurf	Artificial turf	Monsanto Company (formerly) AstroTurf, LLC	[32] Also gave use to the term Astroturfing.
Band-Aid	Adhesive bandage	Johnson & Johnson	Often used as though generic by consumers in Canada and the U.S., though still legally trademarked.[31]
Clorox	Bleach	Clorox Company	[33]
ChapStick	Lip balm	Wyeth Consumer Healthcare	[34]
Coke	Cola, soft drink, pop, soda	The Coca-Cola Company	Popularly used in the Southern United States to refer to any soft drink; still a trademark.[35] Also used for rival brands of cola (e.g., Pepsi) elsewhere, such as in the UK.[citation needed]
Crock-Pot	slow cooker	Rival Industries	"Crock pot" and "crockpot" are common synonyms used by cooks to describe any slow cooker.[36]
Cuisinart	Food processor	Conair	Sometimes used in the U.S. to refer to any food processor, but still a trademark.[37]
Dictaphone	Dictation machine	Nuance Communications	To date, one of the five oldest surviving U.S. brands.[38]
Formica	Wood or plastic laminate	Formica Corporation, part of Fletcher Building	Widely used for the generic product. An attempt to have the trademark quashed failed in 1977.[39]
Frigidaire	refrigerator	Frigidaire	Commonly used in Canada by French Canadians, especially abbreviated as "frigo".[40]
Frisbee	flying disc	Wham-O	[41][42]
Google	As a verb, to use a web search engine	Google	Often used by users and in the media as if it were a generic verb "to search the Internet" in the U.S. and Canada, but still a legally recognized trademark.[43]
iPod	mp3 player	Apple Inc.	[44]
Jacuzzi	hot tub or whirlpool bath	Jacuzzi	[45][46]
Jeep	Compact sport utility vehicle	Chrysler	Chrysler recently used "trademark awareness" advertisements to prevent the brand from becoming a generic noun or verb, including such statements as They invented ‘SUV’ because they can’t call them Jeep[47]
Jell-O	Gelatin dessert; jelly (UK)	Kraft Foods	The Jell-O brand also encompasses pudding products[48]. This is one example of usage by Martha Stewart.
Jet Ski	Stand-up personal watercraft	Kawasaki	Used universally to refer to any type of personal watercraft.[49] This news article is one example of usage.
Kleenex	Facial tissue	Kimberly-Clark	Often used by consumers as if it were generic in the U.S. and Canada, but still a legally recognized trademark.[31]
Muzak	Music	Muzak Holdings	Used frequently to describe as a often derogatory term for any form of Easy Listening, smooth jazz, or Middle of the road music, or to the type of recordings once commonly heard on "beautiful music" radio stations.[50][51]
Photoshop	Photo manipulation	Adobe Systems	Commonly used as a verb to generically describe digital manipulation or compositing of photographs.[52]
Polaroid	Instant film	Polaroid Corporation	Commonly used to refer instant photograph shot during model auditions.[53]
Popsicle	Ice Pop	Good Humor-Breyers	[54]
Post-its	Sticky notes	3M	Often used by consumers as if it were generic in the U.S. and Canada, but still a legally recognized trademark.[55]
Q-tips	Cotton swabs	Unilever	Often used by consumers as if it were generic in the U.S. and Canada, but still a legally recognized trademark.[56]
Scotch tape	Clear adhesive tape (US)	3M	Appears in dictionaries as both generic and trademarked.[57] "Trademark Law" advises that proper usage is "Scotch brand cellophane tape" to combat "generic tendencies".[58]
Ski-Doo	Snowmobile	Bombardier Recreational Products	Usage in Canada, especially Quebec and British Columbia[59].
Tarmac	Asphalt road surface.	Tarmac	Often used by consumers as if it were generic in the UK, but still a legally recognized trademark.[60]
Tivoli	amusement park	Tivoli A/S	The Danish Tivoli Gardens amusement park has registered its colloquial name "Tivoli" as company name and trademark. In Danish language, the word “tivoli” has however been a generic term for “amusement park” from before the Tivoli Gardens opened in 1843 [61] and is still used as such, for instance in the name of many other amusement parks all over Denmark[62] and other Scandinavian countries. This is currently the focal point of several legal disagreements[63], with the first (Tivoli A/S vs Innocent Pictures ApS) expected to reach Denmark's Supreme Court in 2010 or 2011.
Vaseline	Petroleum jelly, petrolatum	Unilever	Often used by consumers as if it were generic in the U.S. and Canada, but still a legally recognized trademark.[56]
Velcro	Hook-and-loop fastener	Velcro company	Used as generic, but still trademarked.[64] Often used as a verb.[65]
Walkman	Personal stereo	Sony Corporation	Was often used generically for any portable stero player, and in 2002 an Austrian court ruled that it had passed into common usage[66], but still a legally recognized trademark.[67]
Windex	Hard surface cleaner	S. C. Johnson & Son	[34]
Winnebago	Class A Recreational vehicle	Winnebago Industries	Used in the United Kingdom to describe a coach sized American motorhome.[68]
Xerox	Photocopier or to make a photocopy	Xerox	Xerox has used "trademark awareness" advertisements to prevent the brand from becoming a generic noun or verb, including such statements as "You can't make a Xerox."[69]

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Ginsburg, Jane C.; Litman, Jessica; Kevlin, Mary L. (2001), Trademark and Unfair Competition Law (3rd ed.), New York, NY: Foundation Press