How To Use Your Trademark Correctly

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 errors. To protect your mark, always use it correctly, educate others, and guard against genericide before it erodes a valuable asset.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome & Episode Overview
• 0:21 Why Trademark Use Matters
• 0:39 The Golden Rule: Use It as an Adjective
• 1:09 The Risk of Going Generic
• 1:35 Lessons from Big Brands
• 2:47 Famous Names That Lost Protection
• 3:24 Final Takeaways & Brand Protection Tips

Transcript

Ashley Elliott (00:08):

Well, hello and welcome back to naming in the AI Age. I'm Ashley, and today we're going to be talking about how to properly use your trademark and why that can make all the difference in protecting your brand.

(00:21):

Most people think that once you pick a name and file it, you're done,

(00:25):

But in reality, how you use that name plays a huge role in how strong your protection is and how well your brand holds up over time. Let's start with the basics. How do you use a trademark correctly? Well, a trademark should always be used as an adjective, never as a noun or a verb. What does that even mean? It means the right way to use a brand name like Nike, for example, is Nike shoes or Nike shirt? Not? I bought some Nikes. A lot of clients are tempted to use their brand names as verbs. While this can boost awareness and make the name catch on and feel a little more catchy, it also carries the risk of the trademark becoming generic.

(01:05):

And once that happens, you lose valuable trademark protection.

(01:09):

If a trademark name becomes generic, meaning used in everyday language as the common term for an action or product, you risk losing your trademark rights. For example, if people say, I'll FedEx this, the word FedEx now has become a synonym for ship, which weakens the trademark To protect it. Always use the mark as an adjective, followed by a noun such as, please ship this package using FedEx Shipping services. When you use your trademark as the product itself or as an action, you actually risk weakening it. The trademark starts to lose its role as a brand identifier and begins to sound like a generic term, and that's where problems can really creep in. The way you use your market launch is how people will learn to say it, write it, and spread it.

(01:57):

If you start using your name as a verb or noun right out of the gate, that habit sticks and it's very hard to undo.

(02:05):

That's why brands like Google, Xerox and Kleenex have had to run campaigns and ads reminding people. You don't Google it, you search it with Google. You don't Xerox it. You make a photocopy on a Xerox copier. You don't hand me a Kleenex. You say Kleenex tissue, your first usage sets the precedence. Do it right and you protect your brand, do it wrong, and you risk eroding it before it's even had a chance to grow. And that leads us into the bigger danger. Genericide Genericide happens when a trademark becomes the everyday word for the product itself. Once that happens, the mark can actually lose its legal protection. Some of the most famous examples are words we don't even think of as brands anymore.

(02:47):

Escalator was once a trademark, but it became the generic name for moving stairs.

(02:52):

Aspirin started out as a brand, but it became the generic word for pain relievers. Thermos, same story.

(02:59):

And that's why big companies spend real money reminding us to use their marks correctly. They know if they don't, they could lose one of their most valuable assets.

(03:07):

So what's the takeaway? If you want to protect your brand, always use your trademark properly as an adjective, not a noun or a verb. Remember that first use matters. It sets your legal priority in the habits your customers will follow. Guard against generic side

(03:24):

Because once your name becomes the generic word for something, you risk losing it.

(03:30):

That's it for today's episode of Naming In the A IH. I hope this helps you think more strategically about not just what to name your brand, but how you use it from the very start. Until next time, protect your ideas, protect your name, and keep naming boldly.