Laundromat Misnomers in American English - 2
Type of Misnomer : Transference of a well-known product brand name into a generalized trademark
  1. Aspirin - Still a Bayer trademark name for acetylsalicylic acid in about 80 countries, including Canada and many countries in Europe, but declared generic in the U.S.
  2. Cellophane - Still a registered trademark of Innovia Films Ltd in Europe and many other jurisdictions. Generalized in the U.S. Originally a trademark of DuPont.
  3. Dry ice - Trademarked by the Dry Ice Corporation of America in 1925.
  4. Escalator - Originally a trademark of Otis Elevator Company.
  5. Kerosene First used around 1852.
  6. Laundromat - Coin laundry shop. Westinghouse trademark, registered in the U.S. in the 1940s (automatic washing machine) and 1950's (coin laundry) but now expired.
  7. Linoleum - Floor covering, originally coined by Frederick Walton in 1864, and ruled as generic following a lawsuit for trademark infringement in 1878; probably the first product name to become a generic term.
  8. Thermos - Originally a Thermos GmbH trademark name for a vacuum flask; declared generic in the U.S. in 1963.
  9. Touch-tone Dual tone multi-frequency telephone signaling; AT&T states "formerly a trademark of AT&T".
  10. Videotape - Originally trademarked by Ampex Corporation, an early manufacturer of audio and video tape recorders.
  11. Kleenex Facial tissue Kimberly-Clark Often used by consumers as if it were generic in the U.S., France and Canada, but still a legally recognized trademark.
  12. Zipper Originally a trademark of B.F. Goodrich
Laundromat
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