Re: The same thing has happened with Xerox (now a generic noun and verb for photocopying), and Kleenex.

well, almost but not quite-- US and UK dictionaries still note that these are brand names. and both companies wage legal battles to keep them that way.

Asprin is a better example-- it used to owned by the Bayer company, but it now a generic word in US (i believe this is a bit of yart, and there are lots of detail about Bayer/asprin and how it lost its copyright protection, about 6 months back.. so if you want more detail, go hunting. )

I wonder about hoover. In US this is still a brand name.. but in UK it seems to be generic for vacuuming.


my other obsession