Do you know what the following
items have
in common?
aspirin, formica,
sheetrock, band-aid, Xerox, Kleenex,
kerosene, styrofoam,
dry ice, magic marker, trampoline, dumpster,
nylon, vaseline,
escalator, ping-pong, yo-yo
Solution
These are (or, in some cases, were)
registered trademarks identifying a company's product that are often inappropriately
used as generic names, instead. For example, the name aspirin has been
lost by its creator, but the name Band-Aid ™ definitely has not. To use
the latter trademark properly, one writes a phrase like "Band-Aid ™ adhesive
bandages," using the trademarked word as an adjective, capitalizing it
as the name it is, and adding the trademark symbol. (This applies to all
the names you listed except aspirin, kerosene, dry ice, trampoline, nylon,
escalator, and yo-yo, which no longer are registered trademarks.) But beware
of using anyone else's trademark for your own benefit in any way: it's
against the law, and remedies for infringement are severe. |
