When a given word becomes too strongly associated with a single company, then the word itself, in all its uses, becomes protectable by that company. The one ca

When a given word becomes too strongly associated with a single company, then the word itself, in all its uses, becomes protectable by that company. The one case I know of is the word "gallo" (Spanish for rooster). The Gallo wine company has such a strong mark that they regularly crush people that try to use the word in any context, such as a small hispanic artist in San Antonio that named his company "Puro Gallo". I'm not saying I agree with this, at all, but that is one aspect of current trademark law. It took the Gallo family decades to establish the strength of their mark. I would guess that the entire idea of "Facebook" will be rather quaint long, long before the idea of "face" can embed itself into general commerce enough to be protectable as a word in all uses.