How To Use Your Trademark Correctly
From Naming in an AI Age by The NameStormers
October 9, 2025 · 4 min · Season 3 · Episode 23
About this episode
This episode discusses the importance of using trademarks correctly to maintain brand protection and avoid genericization.
Using your trademark properly is just as important as registering it. Misuse can weaken protection and even make a mark generic. Trademarks should act as adjectives, not nouns or verbs—say “Nike shoes,” not “Nikes” or “I’ll FedEx this.” Brands that became generic, like Escalator or Aspirin, lost their rights, while companies like Kleenex, Xerox, Google, and FedEx actively fight misuse. From the start, how you present your name shapes customer habits, which is why brands invest in correcting e...
Topics covered
- trademark usage
- brand protection
- generic trademarks
- customer habits
- brand management
Keywords
- trademark
- brand
- generic
- protection
- usage
- adjective
- customer habits
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Nike, FedEx, Kleenex, Xerox, Google
Products: Escalator, Aspirin
More episodes of Naming in an AI Age
- How to Avoid “Name Slop”: Why AI-Generated Names Fail & What to Do About It · January 8, 2026 · 4 min
- Why Getting a Trademark Registration Is So Much Harder · December 4, 2025 · 3 min
- DuPont & Polaroid Factors: Infringement and Likelihood of Confusion · November 20, 2025 · 8 min
- How to Avoid Getting Sued · October 24, 2025 · 13 min
- How to Read a USPTO Trademark Regestration · October 16, 2025 · 4 min
- Trademark Law and Naming Strategy: Why Distinctive Names Matter · September 25, 2025 · 7 min
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