On 1 Feb 2011 at 13:23, Steve Allen wrote: > This is the problem which corporations solve by trademarks which allow > them ownership of words and ability to protect and change their > meaning.
Unless the trademark falls victim to "genericide", where enough people use it as a generic word that a court eventually decides that it is no longer protected. That's why Google prefers people not refer to "googling" for something, as flattering as that is to their company. Other trademarks in some degree of danger of this sort, some of which have proceeded so far in the direction of genericness that you might not even realize they're trademarks, include Kleenex, Xerox, Ping-Pong, Rollerblade, and Realtor. Former trademarks that went generic include aspirin, cellophane, zipper, and escalator. > Today anyone who goes around calling people "gay" is going to be > regarded as ignorant or offensive. Do it at a gay pride parade and they'll probably say "Well, duh!" -- == Dan == Dan's Mail Format Site: http://mailformat.dan.info/ Dan's Web Tips: http://webtips.dan.info/ Dan's Domain Site: http://domains.dan.info/ _______________________________________________ LEAPSECS mailing list LEAPSECS@leapsecond.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/leapsecs
