Zoetica Media

  • Home
  • Services
  • Speaking
  • About
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Featured / Avoiding Tradmarkicide: Ziploc Bags and Apple’s iPod

Avoiding Tradmarkicide: Ziploc Bags and Apple’s iPod

September 25, 2006 by Kami Huyse

Share this:
Twitter0
Facebook0
Google+0
LinkedIn0

Today is a good day to be Ziploc, a Johnson and Johnson company.

As I am sure you have heard that “Kip” Hawley, administrator of the Transportation Security Administration for the U.S. government, said at a news conference today, that starting Tuesday, “Medicines, shampoo, hand lotion, baby foods and lip gloss will be allowed through airport security checkpoints if they are carried in small containers (three ounces or less) and sealed in clear, quart-sized zip-top bags.”

I am sure the terminology “zip-top” wasn’t accidental, as the government was probably trying to avoid commercializing the message, but Ziploc the brand has come to be closely associated with the handy plastic bags that people use to store food and other stuff. So, they are the first brand that comes to mind. Much like Kleenex has come to mean tissue and Hoover to mean vacuum cleaner (in the U.S.).

I myself will have to go out and buy some more of these ubiquitous bags, as right now I only have snack, sandwich and gallon sized bags, but not the handy quart-sized bags called for by the TSA.

Still, Ziploc will need to take care, as all companies do, to walk the fine line between popularity and the genericization of their trademark. According to the Wikipedians, “A trademark typically becomes ‘genericized’ when the products or services with which it is associated have acquired substantial market dominance or mind share.”

The risk is that it would become so generic that it is indefensible for a company to own the name. Something similar is playing out right now at Apple with the term “podcast” and any other uses of the word pod. Apparently, they are trying to defend the term as a derivative of their trademark, iPod, by sending “cease and desist” letter to companies using “pod” in their name or Internet domains.

In the full text of Apple’s cease-and-desist letter to the company TightPod, they ask the company to abandon the use of the name within 10 days. This is not a podcast, but similar letters were sent to those with podcasts that contain the word “pod” in them.

From a public relations standpoint this is a disaster, but it fits right in with the legal way of thinking about this issue. Shel and Neville also covered this issue in the For Immediate Release #164 podcast back in August.

One could reasonably argue the term has already become generic and that Apple doesn’t stand a chance on this one. I imagine the legal eagles see this as a way to defending a possible dilution of the iPod trademark down the line. But is it worth the dent in their reputation?

So what do you think? And more importantly, do you have a couple of quart-sized Ziploc bags that I could borrow?

Filed Under: Featured, Industry Trends

About Kami Huyse

Kami Watson Huyse, CEO of Zoetica, is passionate about great communication. Working in Public Relations since 1994, and blogging since 2005, she has seen trends come and go, but one thing has stayed the same – people are looking for ways to authentically connect. She loves to connect with readers, so leave a comment or follow @kamichat on Twitter and connect there.

Comments

  1. Christopher Schuster says

    October 13, 2016 at 10:52 am

    It’s Ziploc.

Subscribe to get the newsletter and premiums

Enter your email to subscribe:

  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

About Zoetica

Zoetica Swish SmallWelcome to Zoetica! We are an experienced team of communicators led by Kami Huyse who are dedicated to teaching you how to bring your communication to life with sound strategy, community building and solid success measures. Check out our blog, Zoetica Talks, browse our Resources, and check out our Sevices.We can't wait to get to know you better.

Recent Posts

  • Why Community Builds the Strongest Brands
  • Zoetica is Propelled into the Stratosphere
  • Master the Art of Connection to Expand Your Network
  • Navigating Entrepreneurship with Authenticity and Purpose
  • Content Creation Without the Burnout: Kami’s Proven 4-Step Plan

Zoetica in the News

5 Tools to Measure (and Manage) Reputation in Complex Environment PR News Byline

2014 trends for public relations, marketing and social media | Business | Kentucky.com (mobile mention) 

Digital PR & Social Media Guidebook – Contributing Author

How Communicators Can Get Started with PR Measurement, PR News Mention

Proving PR’s Value in the Age of ROI—How to Tie Results to Corporate Objectives | Bulldog Reporter (Speaker)

A Gnawing Crisis in PR: Measuring The ROI on Social Media Channels, PR News Byline

Named as one of AGBeat's top 50 industry influencers in 2014

Will Houston B2B companies answer the social media call? - Houston Business Journal

Social Media Measurement Twitter Chat: Evaluating Impact of Social Media on Foundation Outcomes (with tweets) · RWJF (Moderator)

Top 100 Social Media Power Influencers in Houston 2013

Named as one of 30 PR Experts You Should Follow on Twitter by e-releases

BusinessWire Congrats for Making the Top 100 Women on Twitter

Posts by Topic

Zoetica Talks

 

#SMBHOU

Influencer Outreach

Best Ranked

Measurement

Book Shelf

Nonprofit and CSR

Community

Online Ethics

CoolTools

Social Media Tactics

Crisis

Guidelines

How To

Social Networks

Humor

Speaking

Trends

Strategy

Latest Tweets

Tweets by @kamichat
© Zoetica, LLC | Disclaimer | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 - Zoetica Media · designed/developed by Petersen Media Group