Sankalpita Pal, Symbiosis Law School, Pune
ABSTRACT
The significance of trademarks truly reflect through its reach and recognition amongst the general public. It is not necessary that any and every trademark is well-known. However, when trademarks do become famous to the point of eclipsing over a process/method of preparation or becomes synonymous to a category of goods and services, they lose their distinctiveness. Thus, they fall prey to their own fame. Competitive and aggressive Marketing may bring immense profits and even potentially increase circulation of the goods and services but it would also mean that at the end of this success lies a possibility of genericide. It is interesting to note that when companies successfully embed their brand names in the public mind, their brand names suffer from synonymity and succumb to genericide. This issue is more relevant than ever as it has plagued trademarks under every jurisdiction which shall be explored in this article. This article will attempt to explore the concept of Trademark Genericide and the reasons behind it along with some glaring examples.
