Trademark Genericide is a nightmare for anyone protecting their brand. The greater the popularity of a brand, the greater its protection. However, this popularity brings with it the problems of a brand name generic generic.

A well-known and very popular brand loses its distinctive character and becomes generic. Escalator, aspirin are some examples.

There are some brands that run the 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 most crucial step. How you use your trademark to brand your product has an impact on this. Improper use of your trademark for product branding can have damaging consequences.

For example, let’s say you’re the owner of Levi’s and you have to advertise your jeans. If you advertise your product by saying to use Levi’s, then you are putting your own brand name 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, proper use of the trademark is very important. Instead of Levi’s, wear Levi’s Jeans, instead of advertising with a joke that says “eat Maggie”, you 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 a verb

This is another step that you must implement. It is almost similar to the method mentioned above. Don’t use your trademark as a noun or a verb. Use it as an adjective instead. It should not be used as a name for 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 also as a verb.

Make your business brand stand out

Your trademark and brand name should stand out from the generic terms and product names that surround it. You must follow these points.

1. Use bold or capital letters for your trademark, a particular color pattern, or a combination thereof. For instance LEVI’S Jeans instead of Levi’s Jeans.

2. Please use the ® sign or ™ sign in conjunction with your trademark. This will avoid confusion among your customers. Therefore, you must wear LEVI’S ® Jeans.