Trademark Genericide is a nightmare for anyone who is protecting their brand. The greater the popularity of a brand, the broader its protection. However, this popularity brings with it the problems of a Generic brand.
A well-known and very popular brand loses its distinctive character and becomes generic. Escalator, Aspirin are some examples.
There are some brands that are at risk of becoming generic terms like Google and Band-Aid. Google and Johnson & Johnson’s are taking steps to protect their respective trademarks. Today, in this post, we will discuss some methods that you can implement if your brand is at risk of becoming a generic term.
These are not foolproof tips, however, when you implement them, they can definitely help you.
Develop guidelines on how to use your trademark
I think this is the first and very crucial step. How you use your trademark for your product branding has an impact on this aspect. Improper use of your trademark for product branding can have detrimental consequences.
For example, suppose you are the owner of Levi’s and you have to advertise your jeans. If you’re advertising your product by saying wear Levi’s, then you’re putting your own trademark in jeopardy. Your brand will become popular and people will start using Levi’s to refer to jeans instead of your company and your trademark will become a generic term.
Therefore, the proper use of the mark is very important. Instead of Levi’s, wear Levi’s Jeans, instead of advertising with a joke that says eat Maggie, it should say eat Maggie Noodles.
Develop guidelines for your marketing team and other internal teams on how they should use the trademark for product branding. This will help your trademark and reduce the risk of Trademark Genericide.
Your trademark is not a Noun or Verb
This is another step that you must implement. It is almost similar to the method mentioned above. Do not use your trademark as a noun or verb. Use it as an adjective instead. It should not be used as the name of your product; however, you must identify your brand.
Use your trademark as an adjective and a generic term associated with it as a noun. For example, Parker Pen; here pen (generic term) is a noun and Parker (trademark) is an adjective that describes the attributes of a pen.
Don’t use your trademark as a verb too.
Make your business brand stand out
Your trademark and brand name should stand out from the generic terms and product names that surround them. You must follow these points.
- Use capital letters or bold your trademark, a particular color pattern, or a combination thereof. For example LEVI´S Jeans instead of Levi’s Jeans.
- Use the ® sign or ™ sign in conjunction with your trademark. This will avoid confusion among your customers. Therefore, you must wear LEVI’S ® Jeans.