The Dumpster Brothers? Their last fucking name was Dumpster? Wild that that was just a common last name with no connection to trash for centuries
Look again, it actually says Dempster
Both words are used, so I understand the confusion; also, sprinkled with a little misspelling:
Dumpster: The Dempster Brorthers, Inc.
EDIT: Just read the Dumpster Wikipedia page. The Dempster Brothers' had a truck called The Dempster Dumpmaster 😂
Ormagord, Sorper Morio Brorthers
On cold nights, we’d gather together around the Dempster fire and discuss how bad things were, we’d share drinks and bond as the we burned the garbage to stay warm on those cold nights. No one could turn away for those Dempster fires as they were amazing to watch. Yep Everyone loved watching those Dempster fires
Wait until you learn about Thomas Crapper, who made major improvements to the modern toilet.
It's kind of indicative that the courts have bent to corporations on not generciding names for nearly 60 years. How long have dumpsters been so ubiquitous that no one even knew it was a brand? Very Berenstain Bears situation.
Zoom was actually a word before 2011
Not with that meaning but yes, poor terminology on the visual since it implies it was not.
Trademarks are context sensitive, and zoom was not used as a term for video calls before that. It is interesting that that's the only one on the list that isn't also a made up word
Who says "zoom" as a verb? People say "video chat" or, more realistically, "facetime" for all video chats.
I've heard a lot of people talk about "zoom meetings" when the meetings are actually held on google meet, or webx.
The Jeep one has kind of fallen out of normal use. Like, I wouldn't call a Land Rover or a Bronco a jeep.
If anything Jeep on this list is backwards. It was originally a generic term for that military style vehicle made by various manufacturers. Then it became its own thing as the Jeep brand. But then Jeep further broadened their offerings ( Cherokee, Patriot, compass, etc) and the Jeep became a wrangler. But when I say I drive a Jeep, everyone assumes specifically a wrangler.
Has 'zoom' become a generic term for video calling/conferencing? For example are people saying "let's zoom later on Skype" ?
I hear FaceTime used more generically than Zoom (for mobile video chat)
I had no idea that a lot of those were brand names
That's why when someone says "they have to protect their IP otherwise they lose it", they're full of shit. The bar for losing a trademark is essentially that no one can be reasonably expected to know it was a trademark.
I've never heard Google, Uber or Zoom used unless it meant the specific company. "Google" became a verb, but I've never heard of someone saying they googled something on DuckDuckGo, for example.
"Google it" means look it up on the Internet. My kids don't use Chrome, they use Google (probably call it that because it's the homepage of Chrome).
I've heard people say they're going to uber home. They sometimes use Lyft.
And I've definitely heard people say they were on a zoom call even when it was Microsoft Teams or Google ...what is the Google one called again? I don't remember anymore because people will say Google zoom call!!
Citing a comment I've recently seen, it's amazing how humanity managed to produce only one generation actually competent with computers.
I use it exactly like that all the time.
When was the last time you heard someone use the term 'Xerox?'
iirc, it's used as another word for clone in some 1980's science fiction.
Arguably it's a bit dated but I don't think it's gone completely the way of the dinosaur.
No Coke?
Typical exchange in Texas:
Person A: Can I have a coke?
Person B: What kind?
Person A: Dr Pepper
Vaseline, Velcro, Mace and Styrofoam aren't generic? The fuck? I didn't even know those were trademarked names. Vaseline maybe, but the other three are common enough that I was sure they were generic.
I hope they lose Realtor
I hope the world loses realtors
That's the only that surprised me, and it's still protected? How does that one work?
The National Association of Realtors is pretty consistent at insisting anyone not associated with them is a real estate agent not a Realtor.
Realtor?
That's weirder than Duncan's claim on Yo-Yo getting rejected on a technicality, ninety-nine years late.
Wait, are these the dates when the brand that eventually was deemed a "common word" were first trade marked? I was reading this as the years they were deemed common words.
Cause 2011 is WAYYYY too early for zoom to be common. If anything, that would've been Skype on 2011. Similar thing for Tupperware and zipper.
Also, wtf was heroin's common name before being branded heroin? Lol, also, I can't help but imagine heroin got its name as some kind of "there's a hero in every needle" marketing campaign.
year the brand name was first introduced.
It says so in the legend. Zoom has been a word for a long time but it now also means "participate in a (video) teleconference", which is a new meaning directly linked to the zoom software released in 2011. When a word became generic is usually very hard to pinpoint exactly (except for zoom that was 2020)
For heroin: I don't think there was heroin before the introduction of the heroin brand. Bayer literally invented the substance. (Wikipedia says it was invented 23 years earlier in Britain from morphine, but the inventer didn't do anything with it so it was reinvented later). It was also not a drug you take to get high, it was an over the counter cough suppressant; no needle or spoon or lighter involved. Wild times for sure...
I try to avoid using all these names and instead use the more generic names.
What do you use for zipper, super hero, and trampoline?
I too would like to know.
Fastener? Meta human? Bouncy springy thingy?
From Wikipedia: A zipper, zip, fly, or zip fastener, formerly known as a clasp locker
Trampoline: The generic term for the trademarked trampoline was a rebound tumbler
Roomba is a big one that is missing.
In the UK: Hoover is what everyone called their vacuum cleaner. Can't stop for tea, I have the hoovering to do at home
Losing yo-yo right before the centennial anniversary is pretty funny.
Aspirin & Heroin: Bayer
lost rights to its trademarks as a result of WWI
Thanks Gavrilo Princip. Do you know how much potential revenue you erased from the Bayer balance sheet?
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