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Subject:Re[2]: Product names as adjectives? From:Arnold Colodner <Arnold_Colodner -at- MAIL -dot- STIL -dot- SCITEX -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 9 Jun 1997 13:05:53 EST
All product names that a company wishes to retain as proprietary must
be considered adjectives. Xerox ads constantly write that there are
two Rs in Xerox, the second being the registered superscript. Why are
they doing this? Because other companies that were not careful in the
past have lost exclusivity for their trademarks. As soon as you use
and let others use your trademark as a noun, it slowly becomes
generic. Words like elevator, corn flakes, nylon, linotype and
cellophane are just four of many, many examples. Band-Aid, Xerox,
Frigidaire, and others are fighting an uphill battle,
By using your brand name as an adjective and requesting others to do
the same, you are taking steps to preserve your hold on the name.
Apple requests that their product be called Macintosh computer, not
Macintosh, but it's difficult to control, expecially when Mac is also
a registered trademark!! So Xerox would like you to say Xerox copier
or Xerox photocopy, and never, oh never, to say Xerox it! or Make me a
Xerox. Had Otis used elevator as an adjective, Kellogs used corn
flakes as an adjective, and duPont used nylon as an adjective, they
might not be generic terms today.
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: Product names as adjectives?
Author: dburke -at- tydac -dot- com at INTERNET
Date: 6/4/97 4:09 PM
In <m0wZ52M-000RKBC -at- tydac -dot- com>, Matt Ion wrote:
>I don't recall ever hearing of the Xerox people complaining about this.
> If nothing else, it's made their name a household term.
Does anyone remember when Lego sent out notices with its product to please
refrain from using Lego as a noun? They were afraid of losing the
trademark.
D.
--
Diane Burke
TYDAC Research Inc.
2 Gurdwara Road, Suite 210
Nepean, Ontario, Canada K2E 1A2
613-226-5525, Ext. 202
dburke -at- tydac -dot- com
"The human mind, once stretched to a new idea,
never goes back to its original dimensions."
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes
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