50 Common Words That Are Used As Brand Names

KLEENEX

Like many companies in this round-up, Kimberly-Clark is no doubt none too pleased its prized brand name Kleenex has become the generic term for a tissue in the US, Canada, France and several other countries.

 

MUZAK

Muzak has become the generic name for any cheesy background or elevator music, or a pejorative term for bland, middle-of-the-road pop, but the word is actually a registered though retired trademark owned ultimately by Texas-based company Mood Media.

 

SELLOTAPE

Clear, pressure-sensitive or sticky tape is widely known as Sellotape in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and many other countries around the world regardless of the brand. A trademarked product, Sellotape is produced these days by the German multinational Henkel.

 

SCOTCH TAPE

Whereas sticky tape is referred to as Sellotape in a number of countries, people in the US, Canada, France, Spain and Brazil call it Scotch Tape, after the popular product made by American conglomerate 3M.

 

POST-IT NOTE

Scotch Tape isn’t the only 3M trademark that has become a generic term. The company’s most famous product, the Post-it Note, is now common parlance for any sticky note, but though 3M no longer owns the patent, the firm still holds the trademark for the name and distinctive yellow hue.

 

MEMORY STICK

Many people refer to the full gamut of removable computer memory devices like USB flash drives and memory cards as Memory Sticks, but the term is actually a trademark owned by Sony for its proprietary format.

 

TELEPROMPTER

The device that displays a rolling script or speech is commonly called a teleprompter in North America, a former trademark of the TelePrompTer Company, which introduced the technology in the 1950s.

 

AUTOCUE

In the UK, and in many European and Commonwealth countries, the device is known as an Autocue after the first company that licensed the technology outside the US. The UK-based firm still holds the trademark, despite its generic usage.

 

XEROX

Xerox has been used for decades as the generic term for a photocopy or to photocopy a document in North America, which irks the tech giant no end. According to the company, “you cannot xerox a document, but you can copy it on a Xerox brand copying machine”.

 

PHOTOSHOP

Likewise, Adobe is far from happy its number one brand Photoshop is used as a verb and as the generic term for airbrushing. The official company blurb states that an image isn’t Photoshopped, it’s enhanced using Adobe Photoshop software.