My main point, of course, is on this: > Furthermore, trademarking generic words and phrases (such as "Apple" or "Orange" or "THANKYOU") is totally legitimate

My main point, of course, is on this: > Furthermore, trademarking generic words and phrases (such as "Apple" or "Orange" or "THANKYOU") is totally legitimate Which really, shouldn't be. Because it couldn't reasonably be argued that a consumer could be "confused" at a simple word or phrase like "thankyou" and therefore being misled into using a different company. If you do try to make such an argument, it displays a level of contempt for the consumer, and is also taking the protection of intellectual properties beyond a reasonable level and moves into the abstract. I completely understand that people will happily defend things like this because it is "legitimate". I generally question why people feel it's acceptable that it's a legitimate practice however. Apologies if that annoys you, of course.