What is a Generic Trademark?

A generic trademark goes a step further than one that is deemed merely descriptive. While merely descriptive describes the product or service, a generic trademark states exactly what the product is. For example, if your products are laptops and you were to file a trademark application for “laptop” that would be considered generic. 

This, of course, would not satisfy the requirements for a registered trademark. A trademark serves to distinguish a good or service from others in the market, so a generic term may not be used. 

Other examples of generic trademarks would be “vacuum” for vacuums and “salt” for sodium chloride. When you choose a trademark you want to make sure that its a name that sets your offering apart from others in the market. If you walked into a store to purchase a vacuum and there were five or more products, a brand using “vacuum” for their trademark would not be easy to distinguish from the other products in the store. 

The goal is to choose a trademark that is memorable enough to link your product or service to your company and help consumers recognize it. 

Are you interested in learning more about trademark registration? Schedule your 30 minute legal insight strategy session today!