GNOME gets GroupedOn

Posted Nov 11, 2014 17:11 UTC (Tue) by nye (subscriber, #51576)
In reply to: GNOME gets GroupedOn by rahulsundaram
Parent article: GNOME gets GroupedOn

>The risk is that non-enforcement would result in loss of trademark

Has that actually happened to any trademark within living memory?

GNOME gets GroupedOn

Posted Nov 11, 2014 17:15 UTC (Tue) by rjw57 (subscriber, #17909) [Link] (3 responses)

http://www.mancunium-ip.co.uk/articles/Postregistration.pdf

Escalator, Aspirin, Gramophone, Hoover and Thermos have all become generic.

GNOME gets GroupedOn

Posted Nov 11, 2014 17:31 UTC (Tue) by nye (subscriber, #51576) [Link] (2 responses)

My definition of living memory is slightly more stringent than 'there is somebody still alive who were alive at the time' - I'd also require that they be old enough at the time to actually remember the time before, which probably rules out Aspirin, Gramophone, and Hoover.

Nevertheless, I will concede 'Escalator', which became genericised more recently than I realised (1950), and 'Thermos' which I wasn't aware is legally generic in the US (since 1963 - would that make it the most recently genericised trademark in the US?).

Thanks for responding, anyway - you're the first person that's been able to give me an example of any trademark becoming generic within *almost* the last 50 years.

GNOME gets GroupedOn

Posted Nov 11, 2014 17:34 UTC (Tue) by nye (subscriber, #51576) [Link]

>My definition of living memory is slightly more stringent than 'there is somebody still alive who were alive at the time' - I'd also require that they be old enough at the time to actually remember the time before

Actually, I guess there are probably a fair few people nowadays living to 110 or so, so fair enough - technically I should be looking about a decade further back than I was thinking of.

GNOME gets GroupedOn

Posted Nov 16, 2014 20:32 UTC (Sun) by JanC_ (guest, #34940) [Link]

Some trademarks have become semi-generic, at the very least (there might be no lawsuit/judge who ruled about it, but they are used as a generic in practice in at least some areas).

Examples would be Bic (which is used/understood by _everyone_ as a generic name for a ballpoint pen in some countries, although the Bic company has been fighting violently against that), Velcro, Walkman, etc.

GNOME gets GroupedOn

Posted Nov 11, 2014 17:48 UTC (Tue) by Cyberax (✭ supporter ✭, #52523) [Link] (7 responses)

Xerox, Scotch tape....

GNOME gets GroupedOn

Posted Nov 12, 2014 3:15 UTC (Wed) by mcatanzaro (subscriber, #93033) [Link] (5 responses)

Kleenex, Styrofoam

GNOME gets GroupedOn

Posted Nov 12, 2014 8:51 UTC (Wed) by ehiggs (subscriber, #90713) [Link] (1 responses)

A lot of trademarks are used as generic terms and if the owner of the trademark tried to sue people for their use they would almost certainly lose the case and their trademark in the process (though, IANAL). e.g. Band-aid, Photoshop, Bubblewrap, Cashpoint (UK), Dumpster, Frisbee, Ping Pong, Onesie, Realtor, Tannoy (UK), Tarmac (UK), Velcro.

A lot of this list was found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_generic_and_generici...

GNOME gets GroupedOn

Posted Nov 12, 2014 9:36 UTC (Wed) by halla (subscriber, #14185) [Link]

Speaking from experience, naming an image manipulation application "KImageShop" will definitely get one into trouble, at least in Germany, at least that was the case ten years ago.

GNOME gets GroupedOn

Posted Nov 12, 2014 11:36 UTC (Wed) by nye (subscriber, #51576) [Link] (2 responses)

>Kleenex, Styrofoam

Both still active trademarks, I *believe*, though I'm not 100% sure about Styrofoam.

GNOME gets GroupedOn

Posted Nov 12, 2014 16:46 UTC (Wed) by mcatanzaro (subscriber, #93033) [Link]

You're right.

GNOME gets GroupedOn

Posted Nov 16, 2014 20:36 UTC (Sun) by JanC_ (guest, #34940) [Link]

Trademarks legally, used as generics in practice.

That's just the law being disconnected from the real world...

GNOME gets GroupedOn

Posted Nov 12, 2014 11:36 UTC (Wed) by nye (subscriber, #51576) [Link]

>Xerox, Scotch tape

Both still active trademarks.

GNOME gets GroupedOn

Posted Nov 11, 2014 19:22 UTC (Tue) by ssmith32 (subscriber, #72404) [Link] (2 responses)

And one that really put a black mark on a brand.. Heroin...

GNOME gets GroupedOn

Posted Nov 11, 2014 21:39 UTC (Tue) by philh (subscriber, #14797) [Link] (1 responses)

In the case of Aspirin and Heroin, while you could perhaps claim that it's a case of not defending the trademark adequately, that would be in a military rather than a legal sense.

Both were removed from trademark protection under the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 as part of the war reparations, but only in the victorious ally countries, so Aspirin is still trademarked in large parts of the world (including Germany) with the trademark belonging to Bayer.

GNOME gets GroupedOn

Posted Nov 17, 2014 15:06 UTC (Mon) by jwarnica (subscriber, #27492) [Link]

Personally, I continue to hold a minor grudge against our Canadian negotiator at the time. Aspirin is TM here in the great white north.

GNOME gets GroupedOn

Posted Nov 11, 2014 22:46 UTC (Tue) by HenrikH (subscriber, #31152) [Link]

Sony Walkman

GNOME gets GroupedOn

Posted Nov 12, 2014 0:27 UTC (Wed) by mjpvirtual (guest, #57886) [Link]

Videotape - an Ampex trademark from the 1950s, lost in the 1970s to generic use.

I believe Apple lost the trademark for "App Store" recently.