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This is why I don't believe in most forms of "genericide"

By Rebecca Tushnet

These days, consumer understanding of branding allows Google, Kleenex and Xerox to preserve their marks while also being conversational terms for their categories. The following quote from an article on stadium naming rights is crazy talk from black-letter trademark law's perspective, but that's because the black-letter law doesn't reflect current reality:

The greatest desire of any marketer is for her product's name to work its way into conversations. When I was growing up, it was common to say, "I want a Coke" when you were referring to any kind of soda. People ask for a Kleenex when they mean a tissue, say they're going to Xerox a document even if they're using a Ricoh copier, and speak of Googling when they refer to an Internet search. Stadium naming rights can help products and brands gain that sort of status.

Full post as published by 43(B)log on February 03, 2009 (boomark / email).