RE: verb forms related to Twitter ?

["McLauchlan, Kevin" <Kevin -dot- McLauchlan -at- safenet-inc -dot- com>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tony Chung
> 
> On 2011-09-14, at 6:56 AM, "Peter Neilson" <neilson -at- windstream -dot- net>
> wrote:
> 
> > One of the difficulties [is] the item's current uniqueness. There is
> no obvious generic term. (Perhaps that's merely a confession that I
> cannot think of one.)
> >
> 
> The generic category that covers tweets and status updates is usually
> called "microblogging". The action is "post". While Twitter would have
> you "tweet", the generic world "posts" to the Twitter service.
> 
> This flies in the face against marketing practice, which has the ideal
> goal of turning your company name into a verb.
> 
> Marketing and TechCom: wither the twain shall meet? (or stop the twain
> -- I wanna get off!)

But the reason that our legal departments have always given for 
techwriters (and others) to use generic terms and to always respect 
trademarks (own and others) by using forms like "switch on the BIGNAME 
device" rather than simply "switch on the BIGNAME", is that the loose 
practice results in erosion of the brand.  If the trademark owner 
does not contest improper uses of the mark, that is taken by courts 
as an unwillingness to protect one's own brand. 

I'm trying to think of reasons why that would be bad, and the only 
one I can come up with is:

When your brand becomes the defacto generic name, and somebody 
refers to (say) the crappy Jello they got from the cafeteria - 
as opposed to the crappy gelatin dessert - then the brand 
owners no longer have recourse against people who publish 
that sort of disparaging remark that unfairly besmirches 
the product. 

Not sure how that balances against the perceived market 
domination if your product's name becomes synonymous 
with all instances of that substance or device, regardless 
of who actually made it.

 - kevin
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