保护商标不被通用化的10种方法

A generic term is the name of a class of products or services. Terms such as aspirin, dry ice and zipper are used every day to identify various products. Many of those terms were, at one time, protected trademarks. However, through extensive use by consumers, they have lost their ability to identify the single source of a product and have instead become generic names for products. Fortunately, there are steps that trademark owners can take to avoid this.

通用词是一类产品或服务的名称，例如阿司匹林（aspirin）、干冰（dry ice）和拉链（zipper）等词每天都被用来识别各种产品，这其中许多词汇都曾经是受保护的商标。然而，通过消费者的广泛使用，这些商标已失去识别产品单一来源的能力，反而成为产品的通用名称。幸运的是，商标所有人可以采取一些措施来避免这种情况。

Do not use a trademark as a noun. This will encourage use of the mark as a generic term for the product or service. Rather, the trademark should be used as an adjective with the common name of the product (eg, ‘Nike running shoes’ ).

不要将商标用作名词，作为名词会加速商标成为产品或服务的通用名称。相反，商标应当用作产品通用名称的形容词（例如“Nike跑鞋”）。

A trademark should not be used as a verb either. For example, you do not Google a search term. Rather, you conduct a Google search on that term. Similarly, you do not Xerox a document, you make a Xerox photocopy of the document.

商标也不应用作动词。比如，不是谷歌（google：美国著名搜索引擎公司的商标，现在也指搜索）一个搜索项，而是对该搜索项进行谷歌搜索。同样，不是复印（Xerox：美国著名复印机公司的商标，现在也指复印）一份文件，而是用Xerox复印一份文件。

If you need to identify more than one product or service, make the noun following the trademark plural, not the trademark itself. For example, McDonald’s sells Big Mac sandwiches, not Big Macs.

如果需要识别一种以上的产品或服务，可将产品或服务的名词放在商标复数后面，而不是商标本身后缀上加复数结构。例如，麦当劳卖的是巨无霸三明治（三明治sandwich后面加复数结构：sandwiches），而不是巨无霸（巨无霸Big Mac后面加复数结构：Big Macs）。

4. Use the word ‘brand’ after the trademark

在商标后加上“品牌”一词

As an alternative to using the common name for the product or service, you may elect to use the word ‘brand’ after the trademark. Examples of products that use this strategy on their packaging include Kleenex brand tissue, Lysol brand cleaners and Kettle brand potato chips.

5. Use the proper symbols with your trademark

在商标上使用正确的符号

It is important that you use the appropriate symbol, TM or ®, with your trademark. This places the public on notice that the term is a trademark and should not be used as the generic name for the product or service.

6. Expand the use of the trademark

扩大商标使用范围

Using a trademark on a variety of products can help to prevent it from becoming a generic term for one product. For example, while the BAND-AID mark was originally registered for use on bandages, it is now registered for use on a variety of other products, including antibiotic and pain relief preparations and foot care products .

7. Actively educate licensees

积极指导被许可人

Licensees can have a great influence on whether a trademark becomes a generic term. Therefore, it is important that trademark owners create trademark use guidelines that educate licensees on how they can and cannot use the mark. 

8. Actively educate media and advertisers

积极指导媒体和广告商

Trademark owners should advertise directly to the people who write about their products and services in the media. Messages can be placed in trade publications that target journalists to remind them of trademark rights and the common name of the product or service.

9. Protect your trademark against infringement 

保护商标免受侵权

Genericide often occurs when competitors use a trademark to advertise their products. To protect a trademark, the owner needs to actively watch for and prevent this kind of use, even if it means suing competitors for infringement.

10. Consider expanded advertising

考虑扩大宣传广告

If a trademark owner suspects that the public is starting to use its mark as a generic term, it must take immediate action to educate the public regarding use of the mark. For example, in 2018 Velcro Companies released the “Don’t Say Velcro” music video to help protect the VELCRO mark. In the video, actors playing lawyers explain that the Velcro patent has expired and that the company will lose its trademark if the word ‘Velcro’ is used to refer to all hook-and-loop fasteners.

Genericide of a trademark is the result a company’s effort and success. The more the public hears and uses a mark, the greater the risk that it will become a generic term. Therefore, brand owners must exert the same effort to ensure that they use and police their trademarks effectively from day one.

商标的通用化可以看做是公司努力和成功的结果。公众听到和使用这个商标越多，该商标成为通用名称的风险就越大。因此，商标所有人也同样应当付出努力，以确保从一开始就对商标进行了有效的使用和监管。

原文来源：

www.worldtrademarkreview.com/article/10-ways-protect-your-trademark-becoming-generic

作者：IPRINTL-Jane
编辑：IPRINTL-Bill