By Rene Dial

Losing Your Trademark For Becoming Generic

 Yes, it is possible to lose your trademark after years of advertising and building up goodwill in the community. Your trademark can go the way of the Dodo if you use it in a manner other than a trademark.  Most people would think the more the public uses the product’s name the more popular the product becomes.  Every business wants their product or business to be a household name.  What they do not realize is the mark may be on its way to becoming generic and entering the public domain.  Some examples of trademarks that became too generic are: aspirin, yoyo, thermos, Webster, and windbreaker. It is an insane idea to put so much effort and money and advertising into a mark to lose it by using it improperly.

 Take aspirin for example.  When you ask for the medicated tablet you say “can I have an aspirin.”  We do not ask for an Aspirin medicated tablet.  It does not matter whether it is Bayer, Tylenol or another manufacturer you simply ask for an aspirin.  The word is so commonplace now it is hard to imagine that it ever was a trademark. But it was. Aspirin is a perfect example of losing a trademark to genericism. A Trademark owner runs that risk when they do not use the mark properly. 

 Companies are now more trademark savvy and are doing everything they can to prevent their popular marks from becoming generic.  An example of a trademark that was on its way to becoming generic is Lego building blocks.  Every time I would see a small building block I would refer to them as a Lego.  Now through successful promotion by Lego I know that a Lego is the building block that can be connected to make various Star Wars sets, Space Shuttles, and many other designs. The other toy blocks do not measure up.  Lego was able to pull back their mark and maintain its registered trademark status. Click on this link for guidance from Lego as to how to address their product.

 There are various methods a company can use to protect their marks.  One such method is making sure the trademark used is the actual trademark that is registered.  Many a times I have seen a mark owner register a mark then want to change the color or font of the mark or use the word mark in different stylized logos over time.  A mark owner must maintain consistency in the mark they are using.  The rationale is if the mark is not consistent how is the public going to relate the goods or services to the mark.  Of course many companies register various designs for their mark but they keep the new marks so close to the original the public will still identify their company as the source.  Disney is a perfect example this. Not sure if these are the actual trademarks just variations of the mark that I found.

 Next week I will discuss using the ® symbol and what methods Apple and Microsoft are using to keep their ever so popular marks from becoming generic. Have a great weekend!