4.0420 More on Trademarks (6/122)

Elaine Brennan & Allen Renear (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Fri, 24 Aug 90 22:18:49 EDT

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 4, No. 0420. Friday, 24 Aug 1990.

(1) Date: Fri, 24 Aug 90 08:14:33 EDT (14 lines)
From: "L. Dale Patterson" <LDPATT01@ULKYVM>
Subject: 4.0413 Trademark Neologisms

(2) Date: Fri, 24 Aug 90 09:29 EST (21 lines)
From: Nick Eiteljorg <N_EITELJORG@cc.brynmawr.edu>
Subject: Re: 4.0413 Trademark Neologisms

(3) Date: Fri, 24 Aug 90 11:02:21 EDT (16 lines)
From: "Adam C. Engst" <PV9Y@CORNELLA>
Subject: Re: 4.0413 Trademark Neologisms

(4) Date: Fri, 24 Aug 90 11:17 CDT (17 lines)
From: Phil Rider <A10PRR1@NIU.BITNET>
Subject: Trademark terms

(5) Date: 24 Aug 90 13:2:00 EDT (18 lines)
From: DAVID REIMER <REIMER@WLUCP6.BITNET>
Subject: More on 'hoover'

(6) Date: Fri, 24 Aug 90 17:39 EST (36 lines)
From: John Dorenkamp <DORENKAMP@HLYCROSS>
Subject: Tradenames

(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 24 Aug 90 08:14:33 EDT
From: "L. Dale Patterson" <LDPATT01@ULKYVM>
Subject: 4.0413 Trademark Neologisms

More on the trademark. Here is one I grew up with, though today it is
becoming rare. Coke was the term we used for any dark brown soda
beverage (except Dr. Pepper!!!). It has been in the past few years I
have noticed that when I order a 'coke'the server will look at me and
say 'Is a Pepsi (or whatever) alright?' Well, of course it is.
However, this is changing, yes?

-- Dale Patterson
University of Louisville
BITNET: ldpatt01 @ ulkyvm
(2) --------------------------------------------------------------26----
Date: Fri, 24 Aug 90 09:29 EST
From: Nick Eiteljorg <N_EITELJORG@cc.brynmawr.edu>
Subject: Re: 4.0413 Trademark Neologisms

Bob Kraft's comments about trademarks are interesting, but the law is
such that there are not so many examples as one might expect. At least
in this country a company cannot use a trademark as a generic and
maintain its exclusive right to the mark. If, for instance,
Kimberly-Clark uses Kleenex as the name of the product, it risks having
a judge decide that the term has lost its reference to the singular
product, Kleenex tissues and is therefore no longer protected. Thus,
the trademark is always used as an adjective modifying a noun - Kleenex
tissues, Jell-o gelatin, Velcro fastener, Lexan plas plastic resin, etc.
Aspirin is, I believe, the best-known example of a manufacturer losing
his mark by ignoring the legal niceties. Rather than using the correct
"aspirin tablet," the manufacturer/inventor simply advertised the
product as aspirin and lost his trademark. Hence, aspirin should be
added to your list, but it one of a rather small number. The owner of
the mark has a vested interest in preventing the transfer from specific
to generic.
Nick Eiteljorg
(3) --------------------------------------------------------------25----
Date: Fri, 24 Aug 90 11:02:21 EDT
From: "Adam C. Engst" <PV9Y@CORNELLA>
Subject: Re: 4.0413 Trademark Neologisms

The classic trademark which is commonly used to the chagrin of the
companies in that field is, of course, Xerox. Kodak and other companies
just hate it when their copiers (actually called duplicators if they're
over a certain size) are used to make xeroxes. I remember even seeing
something about what Xerox thought of the common usage. To the Xerox
company, the word xerox is only a trademark and should not ever be used
when not referring to the company. Goes to show what effect company
policy has on common linguistic usages...

Adam

Adam C. Engst pv9y@cornella.cit.cornell.edu
(4) --------------------------------------------------------------21----
Date: Fri, 24 Aug 90 11:17 CDT
From: Phil Rider <A10PRR1@NIU.BITNET>
Subject: Trademark terms

Concerning Bob Kraft's recent posting on trademark names which have
come to be generic terms:

Although at least some of these will appear in the dictionary, a handier
source is any standard history of the language textbook. These normally
have a section on how new words come into the language.

Two other such terms are "zipper" (originally a brand name: something
like "Zipper fastener") and "xerox" (Xerox Corp. has steadfastly fought
to prevent the word from becoming generic).

Phil Rider
Northern Illinois University
(5) --------------------------------------------------------------30----
Date: 24 Aug 90 13:2:00 EDT
From: DAVID REIMER <REIMER@WLUCP6.BITNET>
Subject: More on 'hoover'

It's a good thing someone translated "hoover" -- I was thinking of doing
the same thing. I am surprised that "xerox" was not included in Bob
Kraft's list. Maybe it was and I read past it. An anecdote: it was
psychologically jarring to arrive in England in '85 (for a stay of
several years) and run across the term "hoover", because it acts as a
verb as well as a noun ("Will you hoover this morning, or shall I?").
When we had to buy one of the wretched things it seemed incongruous to
pay for a "hoover" and walk out of the store with a Phillips...

And in Canada, "vacuum cleaner" is the ticket....

David Reimer, Wilfrid Laurier University
REIMER@WLUCP6.BITNET

(6) --------------------------------------------------------------45----
Date: Fri, 24 Aug 90 17:39 EST
From: John Dorenkamp <DORENKAMP@HLYCROSS>
Subject: Tradenames

Let me add a couple more examples to Bob Kraft's observations on Trade
Marks, or perhaps better brand names. It seems that when a company gets
there first and dominates the market, that name tends to become for a
while at least a generic name, e.g., Kodak, Victrola, Hoover, and lately
Xerox. Over time, other versions of the same product appear and the
generic use of the original starts to disappear. An exception, of
course, is when the original name undergoes a shift in function, thus
Xerox becomes not just a name for a copier but also a verb as well as a
name for the product of the verb. This upsets CEOs and others,
especially if the uppercase X becomes lowercase--not surprising when the
brand name Xerox derives from "xerography." Nonetheless we go merrily
on xeroxing on our Ricohs.

Kraft notes that bic is not to be found in dictionaries denoting the
ball point pen. I've never heard a ball point referred to as a bic, and
with the decline in smoking, there seem to be fewer references to a
disposable lighter as a bic. A common usage in parts of Europe is
"biro" for a ball point pen. It is, I believe, a brand name that has
become generic.

Here are a couple of others, and I hope you all will continue the list.
Tabasco for hot sauce is pretty common and Q-Tips for cotton swabs is
prevalent. (Incidentally, if you happen to be in Rome and find yourself
in need of a Q-Tip, a colleague has discovered that sticking your little
finger in your ear, jiggling it around, and saying "fioc" will get the
desired result in any farmacia.)

Meanwhile, what are we to make of petroleum jelly in a little tube sold
as Vaseline Lip Therapy?

John Dorenkamp
dorenkamp@HlyCross (Bitnet)