Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by JohnFen 908 days ago
You have to remember the purpose of trademarks -- they aren't primarily intended to benefit the trademark holder, they're intended as a consumer protection thing.

The idea is that you can rely on the name/packaging/etc. to actually indicate that the product was made by who you think it was made by.

If a trademark becomes generic enough, then it stops serving that purpose and so is no longer able to serve its protective function.