Opuscula Forbidden words

NO, VIRGINIA, THIS IS NOT ABOUT “POLITICAL CORRECTNESS.”

It is about trademarks and what the trademark holders do to protect the mark.

ASPIRIN used to be a trademark. It is not a trademark any more.

What do you call a big yellow earth mover? When I worked for newspapers, if I called that earth mover a “Cat” or “Caterpillar” I might get a letter from Peoria IL that (a) Cat and Caterpillar are registered trademarks, (b) Caterpillar makes more than “just” tracked earth moving machines (see http://tinyurl.com/y7scxr2l), and although probably NOT mentioned in the letter, that (c) just because the earth moving machine was on tracks and was yellow does not necessarily mean it was a Caterpillar product.

If a writer wrote “catterpillar” with a lower case (small) “c,” the writer best be writing about a creepy-crawly.

All soft drinks are not Coke.

Call it a “soft drink” or “soda,” but calling a non-Coca-Cola drink a “coke” — or even a “Coke” with a capital “C” — is liable to get someone in Atlanta GA to compose a message explaining that Coke and Coca-Cola are registered trademarks and not to be used generically.

Some folks stick things together with “scotch tape.” Publish that and someone, possibly a lawyer, will let you know that it is “Scotch brand” cellophane tape from 3M and that it is a closely guarded trademark.

What do you call decaffeinated coffee? Many people simply ask for a “sanka.”

It’s OK to SAY “sanka,” but if it is written out, it is “Sanka” with capital “S.”

The coffee may not keep anyone awake at night, but a letter from the company might. Sanka, incidentally,was “born” in Germany but got its name in France where it was “sans caféine” (information from Wikipedia). Sanka, now owned by KraftHeinz Food Service, no longer demands that the name “Sanka” be followed by “Brand.”

What’s the big deal?

The big deal is trademark protection.

The thing that prompted this piece was an article on school security. (See School safety: Did anyone ask Risk professional? elsewhere on this site.)

I was about to write “taser,” but thinking of Cat , Coke, Scotch, and Sanka I thought it wise to check out the word.

It turns out that TASER

(a) stands for Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle
(b) is a registered trademark of Axon, nee’ Taser International, which insists that the Taser (with a capital “T”) is not a “generic stun gun.”

According to Business Insider (http://tinyurl.com/y9unsu54), there are more than 31 trademarked names that have become “household” words, words that have, through common usage and modification (e.g., Google to “googled” and “Xerox” to “xeroxed”) lost their value as trademarks. It’s an article worth reading.

As long as the owners of these trademarked names continue to send out communications advising people who “misuse” the name, the owners maintain some standing in court should the communication fail to correct the problem.

It may be a losing battle for the trademark owner, but it can be an expensive win for the writer.

If in doubt, use a search engine to check (but do not “google”) if the term is trademarked.

One final thought and credit where it is due: the “tinyurl” in the links used on this site is a trademark of TinyURL, Inc.

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PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

BCPLANNER: Comments on (Trademarks)