Bruce L. Bergman wrote:

If you walk into a store and ask if they have "a Xerox", they have
to say no if their photocopier is a Mita or Konica. But if you'd
asked if they have "a copy machine" you would have gotten the answer
you wanted. Xerox is a registered trademark, and if a Xerox company
representative hears you 'genericizing' the trademark they will
correct you. I've also been corrected by a Mita salesman for calling
it 'a Xerox' instead of 'a copier', they don't want trouble either.

Same thing with Kleenex®, Coca-Cola®, Q-Tip®, Romex®, Magic Marker®,
Sharpie®, Liquid Paper®... These trademarks are defended by the
owners. To help in the effort, a lot of companies have modified
product names and packaging in an effort to make it clearer. "Kleenex
Brand facial tissues" "Q-Tip brand cotton swabs" "Disneyland® Park"
"Sharpie® fine point permanent marker"

-- Bruce --


And my pet peeve is the use of "Plexiglas" for any clear acrylic. :-)
I wish Rohm and Hass would make a biger issue of it.
...lew...