shoefindortz3

> FFS - You're behind reddit

I don't _think_ HN was ever supposed to be a competitor to reddit, was it? AFAIK this is not a product that YC is earning money from (through via ads or elsewhere).

You might not really need to avoid using the term in a way that is understood by the general public. There are quite a few (United States) precedents for losing trademark if a term becomes genericized. For example: Asprin, Escalator, Flip Phone, etc.

There is a wikipedia list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_generic_and_genericize...