This Timeline Shows The Most Famous Instances of Brand Names Becoming Everyday Words

Google it! This is perhaps one of the most abundant examples of a brand name evolving into an everyday word. The cultural phenomena of brand names gradually becoming a part of the vernacular and losing their trademarks has been happening since kerosene was trademarked in 1854 by Nova Scotia geologist and inventor Abraham Gesner. Over time, other manufacturers began putting their brand on kerosene. This is known as genericide. Intense name indeed. The team at LLC Attorney has created this fun and vibrant timeline of brand names that became everyday words. I learned a lot, and I hope you do too!

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I had no idea about a lot of these, especially linoleum! Linoleum is believed to be one of the first brand names to transform into an everyday word. The brand name ‘Linoleum’ was first introduced by inventor Frederick Walton in 1864. After five years of extensive advertising, his product began sweeping across Europe and beyond. In 1878, he filed a lawsuit for trademark infringement against another flooring manufacturer that began using the Linoleum name in America. Unfortunately for Walton, the court dismissed the lawsuit because he had never trademarked the brand name and linoleum had become so widely used that it had become a generic term. Talk about flooring the competition! Other examples that surprise me are ping pong, yo-yo, dry ice, and heroin! Heroin was the name of a morphine-derived drug created and trademarked by Bayer in 1898. They lost the trademark to genericide by 1917.