What is an example of a generic mark?

A generic mark is a word understood by the public as the common term for a product or service. For example, the word “apple” would be generic for the fruit.

What do the terms generic and Genericized mean?

To cause to become generic, especially as a product that is sold without a brand name or as a designation for an entire class of products or services. A trademark that was genericized and used to refer to any kind of cola.

What is arbitrary mark?

Like fanciful marks, arbitrary marks are those trademarks or service marks that consist of a word or symbol that has nothing to do with the products or services being offered. Unlike fanciful marks, an arbitrary mark is a real word, but the word is used such that there is no connection to the meaning.

Can I trademark a generic name?

United States trademark law prevents trademark protection of generic terms because providing a generic term with trademark protection would be like granting a monopoly in the product. A generic mark cannot acquire a secondary meaning because it refers to the category of product or service.

Is Genericized a word?

Simple past tense and past participle of genericize. That has become generic. Kleenex was in danger of being the most genericized brand name.

How a brand name becomes generic?

When you use a brand name as a generic term, you’re using a proprietary eponym, or, more simply, a generic trademark. All of these are (or were) trademarks of companies whose products were so successful that they came to represent an entire category.

What are some examples of arbitrary trademarks?

The following are examples of famous arbitrary trademarks:

• Amazon (online marketplace).
• Apple (technology company)
• Camel (tobacco products).
• Coach (luxury accessories).
• Dove (personal care products).
• Shell (gas stations).
• Virgin (wireless communications).

What is the difference between arbitrary and suggestive trademark?

Cir. 2004) (defining an arbitrary mark as “a known word used in an unexpected or uncommon way”). Suggestive marks are those that, when applied to the goods or services at issue, require imagination, thought, or perception to reach a conclusion as to the nature of those goods or services.

How can you prevent a trademark from becoming generic?

Some ways to help avoid a trademark from becoming generic include:

1. Monitoring the use of the trademark.
2. Enforcing trademark rights.
3. Educating companies and the public about the proper use of the trademark.

Is Google a generic trademark?

Lessons Trademark Owners Should Learn About Genericide. Genericide. In the trademark law context, genericide, or the conversion of a trademark into a generic phrase, occurs when a trademark becomes the generic word for the product or service the trademark is associated with. …

What is an example of a generic trademark?

A generic trademark is one that really does not qualify for any sort of trademark protection. It is essentially a term that is commonly used as the name of the kinds of goods or services to which it is referring. Examples can include a brand of shoes that someone would try to call “shoes” or a haircutting establishment that would be called barber.

What does genericized mean?

genericize (third-person singular simple present genericizes, present participle genericizing, simple past and past participle genericized) (transitive) To make generic. (law, transitive) To turn into a genericized trademark.

How is a brand name becomes generic?

How a Brand Name Becomes Generic Eponym or Generic Names. It is now very popular for people to use a brand name as a generic term when discussing about, or requesting for an item. Prevent the generic use. A lot of companies taking steps to prevent the generic use of their brand trademark. Brand Name > Product.

What is a generic trademark?

Generic trademark. A generic trademark, also known as a genericized trademark or proprietary eponym, is a trademark or brand name that, due to its popularity or significance, has become the generic name for, or synonymous with, a general class of product or service, usually against the intentions of the trademark’s holder.