Friday, June 07, 2002

when trademarks become generic

Wired Magazine's article on Sony's Walkman, and how a trademark name can pass into common usage is interesting reading. A court in Austria has ruled that "walkman" now means any portable stereo player, especially after a German dictionary defined it as such. The ruling doesn't apply to the use of the name in the US, where Sony's trademark prevents competitors from using "walkman" to describe their portable stereos.

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