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As 'iPad' becomes synonymous with 'tablet,' Apple must protect brand - Page 2

post #41 of 75
4/9/12 at 2:43pm
Here's a short list of trademarks that have become generic terms.

Aspirin

Cellophane

Dry ice

Kerosene

Laundromat

Videotape

Bubble Wrap

Dumpster

Jeep

Ping Pong

Q-tips

Scotch tape

Styrofoam

Tarmac

Vaseline

Zipper
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"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject" - Winston Churchill
"Just because something is deemed the law doesn't make it just" - SolipsismX
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post #42 of 75
4/9/12 at 2:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ireland View Post

Escalator
Hoover

Yahoo
Blackberry
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post #43 of 75
4/9/12 at 2:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sflocal View Post

But didn't all the iHaters (especially the ones on this forum conveniently being quiet) crucify Apple back in 2010 for using a name that sounded like a hygiene product, to just about every other insult other the sun? Now it's being considered a generic term to describe a tablet?

Could it be possible that those iHaters simply had zero clue about anything in life? Wow, I'm speechless.

You know who you are too.

It wasnt just the iHaters that criticized the name.
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject" - Winston Churchill
"Just because something is deemed the law doesn't make it just" - SolipsismX
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"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject" - Winston Churchill
"Just because something is deemed the law doesn't make it just" - SolipsismX
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post #44 of 75
4/9/12 at 2:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ireland View Post

Escalator
Hoover

Hoover used as a verb is limited to those small islands off the coast of France isn't it?
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post #45 of 75
4/9/12 at 3:02pm
This could get confusing ... 'Tablet'' as everyone knows is Scottish for fudge ... And not what Americans normally mean by fudge either ... http://britishfood.about.com/od/scot...s/r/tablet.htm
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post #46 of 75
4/9/12 at 3:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post

This could get confusing ... 'Tablet'' as everyone knows is Scottish for fudge ... And not what Americans normally mean by fudge either ... http://britishfood.about.com/od/scot...s/r/tablet.htm

Confusing? Maybe to you but not to most.
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post #47 of 75
4/9/12 at 4:09pm
I think the makers of Kleenex and Band-Aid, although they kept their trademark (unlike escalator and heroin (heroin was a brand name???? Gotta be some comic material there)), are still losers as their products have lost their differentiation.

Let's hope the iPad always stands out.

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Well now that we can finally increase the font size on main posts, PLEASE change the forum format so one can actually read comments on an iPhone.

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Macintosh 512Ke.......

 

Well now that we can finally increase the font size on main posts, PLEASE change the forum format so one can actually read comments on an iPhone.

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post #48 of 75
4/9/12 at 4:23pm
Android is also synonymous to dumb/feature phone. In some cases, door stop.
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Fun and relaxing way to prepare Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) test with Juku Apps
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post #49 of 75
4/9/12 at 4:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post

Google benefits from the fact that most people do not say they are "Googling" when they use a competitor like Bing or Yahoo.

Sure they do. Lots of people say they're "Googling" something when they're using Wikipedia, or PubMed too.


Quote:
Originally Posted by ForceQuit View Post

I think there is as much risk of this happening as people using the name iPod when they really meant Zune.

People absolutely DO call their (insert cheap mp3 player here) an "iPod" though. I hear it all the time.
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post #50 of 75
4/9/12 at 4:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dasanman69 View Post

Here's a short list of trademarks that have become generic terms.

Aspirin

Cellophane

Dry ice

Kerosene

Laundromat

Videotape

Bubble Wrap

Dumpster

Jeep

Ping Pong

Q-tips

Scotch tape

Styrofoam

Tarmac

Vaseline

Zipper

you forgot iPod
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post #51 of 75
4/9/12 at 4:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JONOROM View Post

heroin was a brand name????

Yep, Bayer's brand of synthetic morphine. Their track record for keeping iconic trademarks is pretty weak!
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post #52 of 75
4/9/12 at 5:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bsenka View Post

Yep, Bayer's brand of synthetic morphine. Their track record for keeping iconic trademarks is pretty weak!

Well, today is a good day. I learned something new.
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post #53 of 75
4/9/12 at 5:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by fuwafuwa View Post

Android is also synonymous to dumb/feature phone. In some cases, door stop.

Ask 2,000 people who makes iOS and my guess is that 60-70% of the people would know just because of the i.

Ask 2,000 people who makes Android and my guess is that it would be less than 10% of the people.
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post #54 of 75
4/9/12 at 6:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by macnyc View Post

you forgot iPod

I left it out because we all know it, plus it was mentioned previously.
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject" - Winston Churchill
"Just because something is deemed the law doesn't make it just" - SolipsismX
Reply
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject" - Winston Churchill
"Just because something is deemed the law doesn't make it just" - SolipsismX
Reply
post #55 of 75
4/9/12 at 6:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by redbarchetta View Post

That's a very short-sided thing to say. I agree iPad likely won't become generic, but it won't be long before non-"trash" tablets come out.

It WILL be long (but yes, it could happen) because a tablet is only as good as what you can do with it. Bullet points make good brochures for nerds, but APPS make a good tablet for users. Truly GREAT apps, and a truly large selection of them. No other platform comes close to having that, and if developers do eventually change that, it will take a long time.

It will also be long because Android is the closest to competition, and Android devices don’t get timely OS updates. That makes the devices worse for users, and also feeds the low-quality-apps problem.


Quote:
Originally Posted by dasanman69 View Post

It wasnt just the iHaters that criticized the name.

True. It was everyone who forgot all the ways that “pad” was already a ubiquitous tech term. People who forgot that they constantly use terms like...

- Mouse pad
- Keypad
- Trackpad
- Game pad
- Control pad
- Wrist pad
- Notepad
- And on Star Trek, plain old PADDs...

None of which sounded anything like a feminine product, nor to the zillion other non-tech pads (table pads, mattress pads, chair pads, football pads, etc.) Not until Apple used the term and some 9-year old snickered, and some people jumped to repeat the naughty joke, lacking other reasons to criticize the device

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post #56 of 75
4/9/12 at 7:29pm
Apple can go straight to hell. Their new iPad won't work on ac power once the freaking battery drains. My girlfriend returned my new iPad this past weekend. The manager even over looked the 14 day return policy.
Oh, the screen is pure lust worthy. DAMN IT'S GORGEOUS! But the issue I mentioned couldn't be over looked. Expect a class action lawsuit and a media backlash bigger than antenagate.
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post #57 of 75
4/9/12 at 7:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by maccherry View Post

Apple can go straight to hell. Their new iPad won't work on ac power once the freaking battery drains. My girlfriend returned my new iPad this past weekend. The manager even over looked the 14 day return policy.
Oh, the screen is pure lust worthy. DAMN IT'S GORGEOUS! But the issue I mentioned couldn't be over looked. Expect a class action lawsuit and a media backlash bigger than antenagate.

Yep.



PhilBoogie
That's Google alright. For a stupid company they sure do dumb things.
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That's Google alright. For a stupid company they sure do dumb things.
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post #58 of 75
4/9/12 at 7:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by maccherry View Post

Their new iPad won't work on ac power once the freaking battery drains.

How common do you think an iPad some faulty component for charging is?

Do you not think it's possible for some CE out of many millions sold to be shipped with a factory fault?

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post #59 of 75
4/9/12 at 7:41pm
Many of my co-workers are coming up to me and asking about other iPads -- i.e., Sony, Asus, etc. When I try to explain that the iPad is Apple alone, they continue on as if they never heard me. Slowly, the iPad name is becoming synonymous with Tablet.
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post #60 of 75
4/9/12 at 8:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by NoahJ View Post

I use Google for most every search I do, but from what I understand Bing offers many if not all of those services. I never use them so i cannot say for sure.

Google does have the best commercialized search engine online. I don't use it anymore though. I boycott them over privacy issues because of how they profile us in their databases (forever), and I now use Bing but there are others that find a niche. Bing is OK. I never have a problem finding what I was looking for within the top 10 choices. I don't search for a living and those who do might disagree with my comment on Bing.
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post #61 of 75
4/9/12 at 9:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by StatCoder View Post

I'm not sure why it's a problem for Apple people to refer to tablets as iPads.

People don't refer to tablets as iPads. No one walks into Best Buy looking for that Samsung iPad. Businesses don't talk about getting their employees iPads and then about how they need to decide which company to get them from. And so on.

All the articles that talk about tablets talk about nothing but iPads because no other company has managed to create a product that is such great hit fodder. NOT because the see all tablets as iPads
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post #62 of 75
4/9/12 at 9:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post

1) There was. People were starting to refer to all PMPs as iPods.

2) It look Apple a lot longer to get the lion's share of the PMP market than it did for them to get the lion's share of the tablet market.

3) This is always a concern for a company because they don't want anyone to be able to refer to anything as Coke or as an iPad. You have to fight to keep your Trademark intact but that doesn't mean it's in jeopardy simply because people are using it generically so long as you do your due diligence in protecting it.

The speed with which a thing becomes ubiquitous has no effect on trademark retention. As you note, it's up to the holder to be diligent. So why is there this sudden presumption that Apple will somehow let iPad slip away, but not iPod? I suggest it's the result of fuzzy thinking on the part of one person, followed by thoughtless parroting by people wishing to appear... thoughtful.
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post #63 of 75
4/9/12 at 9:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dasanman69 View Post

Here's a short list of trademarks that have become generic terms.

Aspirin

Cellophane

Dry ice

Kerosene

Laundromat

Videotape

Bubble Wrap

Dumpster

Jeep

Ping Pong

Q-tips

Scotch tape

Styrofoam

Tarmac

Vaseline

Zipper

Well, Jeep and others are still legitimate trademarks so I don't know how you explain that.
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post #64 of 75
4/9/12 at 10:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by the cool gut View Post

Well, Jeep and others are still legitimate trademarks so I don't know how you explain that.

People still do often refer to any SUV as a "Jeep" though. I went on a "Jeep Jungle Safari" on vacation this winter, the "Jeeps" were all Suzukis. With huge stickers that said "Jeep" on the doors. Chrysler may own the registered trademark, but the name was public domain long before they bought it.
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post #65 of 75
4/9/12 at 10:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by the cool gut View Post

Well, Jeep and others are still legitimate trademarks so I don't know how you explain that.

I don't think it's so much about a legitimate trademark as it is about public perception. Jeep is often seen as a class of vehicle,although I think that case might be less true these days. Band-Aid had a commercial a while back that used the jingle "I am stuck on Band-Aid brand cause Band-Aid's stuck on me". They put the word brand in there so people wouldn't buy another manufacturers bandages because everyone thinks of Band-Aid as a class of product.
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post #66 of 75
4/9/12 at 11:41pm
I am thinking of buying one of the new Acer iPads when they come out. Looks like an awsome bit of kit.
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post #67 of 75
4/10/12 at 12:59am
The iPad is the best iPad I have used.
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post #68 of 75
4/10/12 at 1:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post

1) There was. People were starting to refer to all PMPs as iPods.

2) It look Apple a lot longer to get the lion's share of the PMP market than it did for them to get the lion's share of the tablet market.

I think the two biggest factors with the iPod case were:
1) There really wasn't a universal name for these devices back then. Some were referred to as MP3 players, others as Portable Media Players, Digital Media Players, etc.

2) Regardless of which name was used, none of them were easily remembered by the general public. We may think 'MP3 Player' or 'PMP' is trivial to remember, but to the grandpas of the world, these were complex terms.

So when the iPod came along and became the best selling example of PMPs, everyone latched onto that name because it was short, easy to remember, and universally understood.

I don't see these factors at play with the iPad.
There already is a short, easy to remember, and universally understood name for these devices, i.e. tablets. (and the same can be said for the iPhone and smartphones in general) So I don't think there is a motive for the general public to rally around the iPad name.
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post #69 of 75
4/10/12 at 3:37am
I've experienced the reverse. I've talked with many people that say "tablet" and mean "iPad". I've never heard anyone say "iPad" referring to an alternatab.
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post #70 of 75
4/10/12 at 5:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Apple ][ View Post

That sounds like more of a problem for Best Buy. When that customer gets home and eventually realizes that they were misled and they were not actually sold an iPad, like their friends had told them about or shown them, or that they had heard amazing things about, then they are going to be pretty upset.

moot point... doesn't Best Buy have a return policy?... i know in Canada they do have a return policy no questions asked... so the end up getting pissed at Best Buy and have you go back and get the iPad instead of the "trashy product" they were duped into getting.

dictated to my iPad
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post #71 of 75
4/10/12 at 5:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dasanman69 View Post

Here's a short list of trademarks that have become generic terms.

Aspirin
Cellophane
Dry ice
Kerosene
Laundromat
Videotape
Bubble Wrap
Dumpster
Jeep
Ping Pong
Q-tips
Scotch tape
Styrofoam
Tarmac
Vaseline
Zipper

You are wrong on a number of these:

Styrofoam:
http://building.dow.com/media/trademark.htm

Jeep:
http://www.rockcrawler.com/features/...y/dc_vs_gm.pdf

Q-tips:
http://www.rockcrawler.com/features/...y/dc_vs_gm.pdf

Scotch Tape:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Scotch+Tape

Vaseline:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vaseline_Logo.svg
(Although it is considered generic in Spanish and Portuguese according to one report I read).

You are correct about the rest, AFAICT.
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post #72 of 75
4/10/12 at 6:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by maccherry View Post

Apple can go straight to hell. Their new iPad won't work on ac power once the freaking battery drains. My girlfriend returned my new iPad this past weekend. The manager even over looked the 14 day return policy.
Oh, the screen is pure lust worthy. DAMN IT'S GORGEOUS! But the issue I mentioned couldn't be over looked. Expect a class action lawsuit and a media backlash bigger than antenagate.

Wow- like what did you have to wait like 2 minutes at most for the battery level to go from red to green before it powers on?
Where does it state that it would work if totally drained imediatedly anyway? Every iPod, iPhone and now iPad has always worked that way for me.
Give it up.
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post #73 of 75
4/10/12 at 8:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by majjo View Post

I think the two biggest factors with the iPod case were:
1) There really wasn't a universal name for these devices back then. Some were referred to as MP3 players, others as Portable Media Players, Digital Media Players, etc.

I think that's an excellent point. I think it's one of those thins most of us realize but for some reason never seem to bring up.

I use PMP as a universal, technical term for this forum but I would never use it as a general term. I'd use iPod or MP3 player. I certainly don't like to say MP3 player on this forum to refer to the PMP category here because it's less technical even though the context makes its usage clear.

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post #74 of 75
4/10/12 at 1:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by nagromme View Post

Not until Apple used the term and some 9-year old snickered, and some people jumped to repeat the naughty joke, lacking other reasons to criticize the device

i recall that moment in time, yes.

sadly, the 'nine (9) year-old mentality' will persist amid online news / discussion groups regardless of company. Apple has been subject to it as well as Sony, Samsung, Microsoft, RIM, Google and dozens of others. it's the price we pay when only an email address is required to join a message board, not reason or civility.
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post #75 of 75
4/11/12 at 5:59am
In ex-ussr countries SUVs are still referred to as Jeeps. One says e.g. Mitsubishi Jeep, Toyota Jeep.."look how big this Jeep is. " etc.
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