As the saying goes, people are afraid of famous pigs and strong ones. This is not feasible in business, but who does business and who doesn't want their brand to enter thousands of households and be talked about and welcomed by people in society? But for trademarks, becoming too famous is actually a terrible thing. Nowadays, when we encounter something we don't know, we often say, "I'll go to Baidu." The search engine trademark "Baidu" seems to be no longer just a noun, but a verb. This has a lot to do with Baidu's slogan of "Baidu, you will know" all the year round. Here, the big shopkeeper will analyze the typical trademark law case of trademark name generalization for you.

Baidu seems to like this result, indicating that "Baidu search" has been deeply rooted in people's hearts, but in fact it is a big hidden danger.

In July 2006, Webster's University Dictionary defined lowercase "google" as a verb and included it in the dictionary. Like Baidu, many people abroad are used to saying "Google". Google doesn't like to worry, which obviously equates the "Google" trademark with a search engine.

What consequences will this bring?

At one time, the words "Jeep", "USB flash drive", "xylitol" and "aspirin" did not refer to a commodity, but a specific trademark, but because of their growing fame, they gradually became words in people's mouths.

The function of trademark has been gradually diluted and has become a public resource!

Don't forget, a very important point of trademark law is the need for distinctiveness! The common name of a commodity is not allowed as a trademark. Because the significance of the common name of a trademark is very low, it cannot prevent others from using it reasonably.

In other words, once Google becomes a public resource, Google will lose all kinds of rights of this trademark worth hundreds of billions. Fortunately, the court ruled that Google was not enough to become a universal logo related to search engines, which made Google breathe a sigh of relief.

On the other hand, in China, Baidu obviously didn't realize the seriousness of this problem, and it still used "Baidu, you will know" as its advertising slogan. ...

Compared with Baidu and Google, it is obvious that Coca-Cola Company has more foresight in avoiding trademark generalization.

It is said that the Coca-Cola Company spends about $2 million a year to let 25 members go to restaurants all over the country to buy "Coca-Cola" products by name, and then bring back the Coca-Cola provided by various merchants for testing and analysis. If it is not a real Coca-Cola, these practitioners will be warned that they must sell a real Coca-Cola, or make it clear to consumers that the Coca-Cola they provide is a commodity other than Coca-Cola. If the catering industry continues this behavior, it will go to court on the grounds of trademark infringement.

Is it a little detour? In fact, they just want to prove that "Coca-Cola" is "Coca-Cola", not the common word "Coke".

In fact, trademark generalization does not necessarily happen on your own trademark. Because trademark generalization will happen, a very important reason is improper use of trademarks.

It is very important for trademark owners to use trademarks. It is necessary to avoid replacing trademarks with products and make consumers realize that trademarks are common names. If the public still calls a trademark a universal product or service, although it is the public's recognition of you, it is also a kind of strangulation!

When a colleague uses your trademark as a common word in business, it is better to conduct a large-scale lawsuit, which can not only promote himself, but also strengthen his trademark attributes. The "Double Eleven" trademark dispute is a good example.