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Generic trademark
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<p>A generic trademark, also known as a genericized trademark or proprietary eponym, is a <a href="/facts/Trademark/B23H8IS0">trademark</a> or <a href="/facts/Brand_name/hP6SnDWU">brand name</a> that, because of its popularity or significance, has become the <a href="/facts/Generic_term/nENLNhIF">generic term</a> for, or synonymous with, a general class of <a href="/facts/Good_(economics_and_accounting)/AtK6gQh2">products</a> or <a href="/facts/Service_(economics)/B7L4tR8r">services</a>, usually against the intentions of the trademark's owner. </p><p>A trademark is prone to genericization, or "genericide", when a brand name acquires substantial <a href="/facts/Market_dominance_strategies/mQ5nEIfK">market dominance</a> or <a href="/facts/Mind_share/7tJRN0t2">mind share</a>, becoming so widely used for similar products or services that it is no longer associated with the trademark owner, e.g., <a href="/facts/Linoleum/FwhkazoR">linoleum</a>, <a href="/facts/Bubble_wrap/gVASuRTJ">bubble wrap</a>, <a href="/facts/Vacuum_flask/LsoJeFLJ">thermos</a>, and <a href="/facts/Aspirin/opMK4qLk">aspirin</a>. 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. </p><p>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 <a href="/facts/Generic_term/nENLNhIF">generic terms</a>. In one example, the <a href="/facts/Otis_Worldwide/VFNb3mK4">Otis Elevator Company</a>'s trademark of the word "<a href="/facts/Escalator/RlkSrnL8">escalator</a>" was cancelled following a petition from <a href="/facts/Toledo%2c_Ohio/pvCIPsAt">Toledo</a>-based <a href="/facts/Schindler_Elevator_Corporation/2mL37wFa">Haughton Elevator Company</a>. In rejecting an appeal from Otis, an examiner from the <a href="/facts/United_States_Patent_and_Trademark_Office/97KdJB6h">United States Patent and Trademark Office</a> cited the company's own use of the term "escalator" alongside the generic term "<a href="/facts/Elevator/ug3nh0o8">elevator</a>" in multiple advertisements without any trademark significance. Therefore, trademark owners go to extensive lengths to avoid genericization and trademark erosion. </p>