¶ … Brand Names: Will 'iPad' Become Generic Word for Tablet?" was published by the U.S.A. Today, with the central premise concerning a relatively unknown yet ubiquitous phenomenon known as genericide. According to the article, which was compiled by the Associated Press (AP), Apple Inc. And its proprietary iPad tablet computing device is poised to alter the English lexicon through its supremacy within a particular market segment. Like the Band-Aid and Kleenex before it, the iPad has become so synonymous with a niche product that consumers invariably refer to competitor's offerings by the same name, and Apple Inc.'s executive management structure must now wade through the quagmire of intellectual property rights and trademark protection law to determine the course of action that preserves the company's duly earned domination of the market. The article presents the iPad's emergence as the standard bearer for tablet computing devices as a mixed bag of sorts...

At the time of the article's publication executives at Apple Inc. found themselves caught in the proverbial Catch-22 that all companies with vastly superior products inevitably encounter: the choice between expanding a brand name relentlessly in the pursuit of short-term profit, or the preservation of an established trademark to ensure steady profitability in the long-term.
The concept of genericide has several implications from an intellectual rights perspective, because there is established precedent for the nullification of a trademark when a court determines that a brand name has become so ubiquitous as to become the de facto name for all similar products in its market. The article cites a number of instances in…