When you're building a business and a brand, marketing is everything. Business owners invest a notable portion of their capital in marketing with the sole aim of spreading their business name far and wide. The more notorious the brand, the larger the customer base and the greater the profits. Unfortunately however, that same popularity can backfire costing the brand owner exclusive ownership of their hard-earned brand.
"Words like teleprompter, thermos, hoover, aspirin, and videotape were once trademarked. They lost the status after their names became too generic and fell victim to what is known as genericide."
Has "google" become just another word for "search"? Do we "google" on bing? On aol? Should one company have exclusive ownership of what has become a household term? These are questions to answered by the Supreme Court.