Genericide! AKA, the death of a trademark

Genericide? Yes, you read that right. This blog post is a about death. The death of IP... The death of IP by becoming generic.

It's a terrible fate for any entity that owns a mark. Only those that reach the peak of their success actually suffer from it because the brands are so widespread. Marks lose their significant connection to one specific good or service, and are applied across the board to all similar products. 

Imagine the marketing team that creates a branding strategy so well, they actually destroy themselves. 

It's not common, but it has happened enough times throughout the history of the US Trademark Office to be a recognizable risk. It is almost unique to word marks, particularly nouns. Let's look at a few of the most notable cases.

Escalators

It's true, escalator was once a word mark. Over 100 years ago, Charles Seeberger purchased patents for a moving stairway from inventor George Wheeler. Seeberger made a deal with the still today well-known elevator manufacturer, Otis, and coined the term "Escalator". On May 19, 1900, Escalator was registered as a trademark, no. 34,724. This model of the moving stairway was a central attraction at the 1900 Paris World's Fair. Soon, it was in department stores and large gathering places, changing how people used space. In particular, the escalator changed the shopping experience. 

However, by 1950, escalator was no longer used just for the one product. The public and Otis itself were commonly using it in a generic sense. The word mark no longer specifically represented the Otis model. Haughton Elevator Company brought the case to the Commissioner of Patents and the Examiner of Trade-Marks. On April 3, 1950, escalator was cancelled. Read the legal decision here.

Cellophane

Du Pont purchased US patent rights for the Swiss-invented cellophane and swiftly the new Du Pont Cellophane Company applied for a trademark for the cellulose wrapping, first known as "La Cellophane". Just plain "Cellophane" was registered July 22, 1924, no. 186,577. In the meantime, Du Pont discovered it was not impermeable to moisture. A new formula was patented in 1927.

Record of the Du Pont Cellophane mark in the Official Gazette

Yet only a short 12 years after registration, the Waxed Products Company objected to the Cellophane word mark. Evidently it had become ubiquitous when referring to transparent plastic wraps, and could no longer be justified as a trademark. Du Pont continued to manufacture the product, discontinuing it after a 62 year run once other, superior products supplanted its use. Read about Du Pont's history here.

Aspirin 

If you're anything like me (cheap, OK? I admit it.), when you peruse a pharmacy's pain relief aisle, you're accustomed to deliberately selecting those with generic names: ibuprofen, acetaminophen, naproxen sodium, etc. However, there's one exception, and that's aspirin. It was trademarked as far back as 1899 by Bayer AG, but lasted only slightly longer than Cellophane.

Of course, this one is only slightly a case of genericide. Things get confusing around 1917-1918; there are many conflicting timelines for events. Many of Bayer's assets were seized during World War I, and that included patents and trademarks. Debates over using Bayer's Aspirin in government legislative bodies in Australia, the US, and others who opposed Germany focused on problems with governments purchasing a German product. The seizure of IP may have been related.

By the time Bayer would be able to re-register a mark for aspirin, it was already too widely used by companies selling a specific pain reliever with the same acetylsalicylic acid formula.

Dry Ice

Labs and chemists had been producing dry ice for decades before a company dedicated to it was founded, in no small part because there was no known practical use for solid carbon dioxide. Nonetheless, the DryIce Corporation of America had their word mark registered on July 14, 1925, no. 200,934. A few years earlier a patent for the process to make dry ice had been obtained, so the company was founded with something of a hopeful attitude.

Record of the DryIce application for trademark in the Official Gazette

The DryIce corporation had a pretty good run for a few years after uses for the solid carbon dioxide were found--largely in shipping cold products like frozen foods--but fell prey to a too-successful mark. In 1932, the DryIce Corporation of America lost to Louisiana Dry Ice Corporation, and the term "dry ice" just became a generic phrase to indicate anyone's solid carbon dioxide. 

Another mark was registered in July 1926 and included design elements, and had slightly greater longevity. It was re-registered in the 60s before later expiring.

A word and design trademark for the DryIce product.

Today, most entities are very careful with their branded names and marks, seeking to avoid the fates of the examples above. Genericide is more well-known. You may have noticed that all of the examples above were taken from the first half of the 20th century. 

I hope our trip through the trademark graveyard was fun! Leave a comment if you think there are others that deserve a shout out, or if there's a mark you suspect will suffer genericide soon.