OPEN

A couple of days ago I posted about Google sending legal letters to media about not using its name as a verb a while a couple of days back.

The Press Gazette blog and Out-law.com provide some interesting counterpoint. The former notes that this is a story which first emerged three years ago, while Out-law points out that becoming a generic is not always a desirable outcome for brands:

The risk for Google is that it ceases to become a brand altogether. If it becomes generic, the brand can be struck from the register of trade marks, leaving the owner without rights. This has happened before: escalator, aspirin, pogo, gramophone and linoleum were once registered trade marks that became victims of genericide.