Apple could force a 111-year-old fruit company to change its Apple logo

Re:Apple could force a 111-year-old fruit company to change ... by atchoo on Wednesday June 21, 2023 @08:30AM (#36417624)

I can't recall seeing trademark aggression that had anything to do with genericism though. Some marketing copy maybe but not as challenges to other company's marks.

Genericism is within the user/audience/market rather than other businesses. The cause of genericism is total cultural domination - such widespread success that it becomes the noun. I wonder how close "iPhone" and "iPad" might be to genericide.

Is there a test for it? If you put an Android Tablet on a table and asked a test subject to pass you the iPad, I think we can predict the overwhelming outcome.

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Re:Apple could force a 111-year-old fruit company to change ... by jakelazaroff on Wednesday June 21, 2023 @09:21AM (#36418107)

I mean, yeah, because they probably know what an iPad is and can infer what I meant. That just means the brand name is recognized, not that it’s generic. If you put a Coke on the table and asked the subject to pass the Pepsi, it would probably work too — as well as vice versa.

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Re:Apple could force a 111-year-old fruit company to change ... by Closi on Wednesday June 21, 2023 @09:23AM (#36418132)

Well if another competitor starts using your protected term and you don’t protect it, it is more likely to become generic.

(Ie if Apple does not protect the word iPhone and then Google and Samsung use the term iPhone for 5 years unchallenged, it risks becoming a generic name for a smartphone)

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