Xerox Enlisting Hollywood in Fight Against 'Genericide' with Ad
Xerox Corp. has a message, and it hopes that those who write screenplays will read it.
The maker of copy machines asks in an ad it took out in The Hollywood Reporter to “use Xerox only as an adjective to identify our products and services, such as Xerox copiers, not a verb, ‘to Xerox’ or a noun, ‘Xeroxes,’ ” THR, Esq. reports.
The blog says the company is fighting against “genericide,” which has onetime trademarks thermos, aspirin and zipper among its victims: Those products became so widely known by their trademarked name that their owners lost trademark protection.
“It’s a shrewd move,” THR, Esq. writes. “It’s a shrewd move. Little tweaks to scripts could make a big difference in the public consciousness. Plus, an industry besieged by piracy is likely filled with ears sympathetic to a fight to retain valuable intellectual property.”
Related coverage: Illinois Business Law Journal (2008): “Google Defends Its Trademark From Genericide”
Good Company: “GENERICIDE – Too much of a good thing”
