As the saying goes, people are afraid of being famous and pigs are afraid of being strong. This statement is not feasible in the business world. Anyone who does business does not want his brand to enter thousands of households, be mentioned on the lips, and become popular in society. But for a trademark, becoming too famous is actually a very scary thing. Nowadays, when we encounter something we don't know, we often say: "I'll go to Baidu." It seems that the search engine trademark "Baidu" is no longer just a noun, but has become a verb. This has a lot to do with Baidu's long-term use of "Baidu, you will know" as an advertising slogan. Below, the chief shopkeeper will explain to you this typical trademark law case involving the generalization of trademark names.
Baidu seems to like this result, which means that "Baidu search" has been deeply rooted in people's hearts, but in fact, this is a big hidden danger.
In July 2006, "Webster's Collegiate Dictionary" defined the lowercase "google" as a verb and included it in the dictionary. Like Baidu, many people abroad are also used to saying that they go to "google" one time. Google doesn't like it but worries about it. This is obviously equating the "google" trademark with the search engine.
What consequences will this bring?
In the past, the words "Jeep", "USB", "Xylitol" and "Aspirin" did not refer to a category of items, but to a specific trademark. However, due to their increasing fame , has gradually become a word on people’s lips.
The function of trademarks is gradually diluted and reduced to a public resource!
Don’t forget, a very important point in trademark law is the need for distinctiveness! The common name of a product cannot be used as a trademark. Because the common name of a trademark has very low distinctiveness, it cannot prevent others from using it reasonably.
In other words, once Google becomes a public resource, Google will lose all rights to this trademark worth hundreds of billions. Fortunately, the court ruled that Google is not enough to become a universal logo related to search engines, so Google breathed a sigh of relief.
Looking back at China, Baidu obviously did not realize the seriousness of this problem. It still uses "Baidu and you will know" as its advertising slogan...
Compared with Baidu and Google, it is clear that Coca-Cola appears to be more far-sighted in avoiding trademark generalization.
It is said that the Coca-Cola Company spends about US$2 million every year to have 25 members go to restaurants across the country to buy "Coca-Cola" products by name, and then bring back the Coca-Cola provided by each merchant for testing and analysis. If it is not the real "Coca-Cola" "Coca-Cola" will issue a warning to these practitioners, requiring them to sell the real Coca-Cola or make it clear to consumers that the Coca-Cola they provide is a product other than "Coca-Cola". If the catering operators continue this behavior, they will infringe their trademark rights. for resorting to court.
Isn’t it a bit convoluted? In fact, they just want to prove that "Coca-Cola" is "Coca-Cola", not the generic word "Coke".
In fact, trademark generalization does not necessarily happen to one's own trademark. Because trademark generalization occurs, a very important reason is incorrect use of trademarks.
It is very important for the trademark owner to use the trademark in a manner that avoids using the trademark as a substitute for products and causing consumers to perceive the trademark as a generic name. If the public still refers to a certain trademark as a certain general product or service, although it is recognition of you by the public, it is also a form of flattery!
When a peer uses your trademark as a generic term for commercial use, it is better to initiate a large-scale lawsuit, which can not only promote yourself but also strengthen your trademark attributes. The “Double Eleven” trademark dispute is a good example.