Quote:
Originally Posted by rexell
Now I'm no lawyer, but if like you stated above, the term "Army Builder" is in fact synonymous with "creating an army roster for play." Wouldn't you have just stated that your trademark has in fact become genericized? If the term itself is the generic word used for X, then army builder has become just like aspirin or yo-yo within the gaming community.
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Consider also trademarks like "Band-Aid", "Kleenex", and "Coke". Large portions of the population consider those trademarks to be synonymous with the product category they represent and use them in a general manner, yet those trademarks have NOT be declared generic. A key reason is that the consumer recognizes them to also be a brand name. That's why we have to do our best to make sure miniatures players are aware of the trademark, as awareness is the critical element. Whether those consumers subsequently choose to use the trademark improperly is then a matter of individual choice.