genericide
genericide (j[schwa]-ner-[schwa]-sId).Trademarks. The loss or cancellation of a trademark that no longer distinguishes the owner’s product from others’ products. • Genericide occurs when a trademark becomes such a household name that the consuming public begins to think of the mark not as a brand name but as a synonym for the product itself. Examples of trademarks that have been “killed” by genericide include aspirin and escalator. [Cases: Trade Regulation 77. C.J.S. Trade-Marks, Trade-Names, and Unfair Competition § 225.]
