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I wonder how Apple will counter the statement that Jobs made about the multiple app stores on Android. It seeks as he already used it as a generic term.

by Osiris 15y ago

SoftwareMaven 15y ago
Same way I'd respond if I was the CEO of Johnson and Johnson and used BandAid when I should have said self-adhesive bandage (or plaster[1]): We own the mark and use the mark so frequently to describe our product that it was a reasonable slip when discussing entities that certainly are similar to the thing our mark describes. [1] Completely unrelated: My first trip to England, I had to buy some Doc Martins from THE Doc Martin store (bucket list kind of thing :). So I'm walking around a lot in them as I schlep around the Midlands and Yorkshire for various meetings and some site seeing, and I've managed to generate some very uncomfortable blisters. I need a BandAid...err...self-adhesive bandage. It's off to the hotel desk in Leeds, "Do you have any BandAids?" "Any what?" "BandAids", I'm now catching on that maybe J&J isn't big here as I see his confused look. I decide to go generic, "Self-adhesive bandages?" The confused look remains. At some point he gets a really pathetic first aid kit without any BandAids in it. I'm now wondering if the UK's medical system was to blame for a country not having self-adhesive bandages. I quickly drop the probability on that to very low, but don't fully eliminate it. I decide it's time to leave the hotel and go where I'm sure I'll find one. "Can you tell me where a drug store is nearby?" Doh. I eventually get pointed to the Chemist. I get there and finally find my BandAids: Plasters? Really? I guess it goes with bendy-busses and the like. Now one more thing. The feet are hurting and some Tylenol would help. Of course there is no Tylenol. I start reading the ingredients, I know acetaminophen must be in one of these. And, of course not. Why didn't I know it was called paracetamol? Needless to say, my US centric view of the world was shattered over the course of those 45 minutes. ...and by the time I finished this story, nobody would care that I used BandAid once to describe a self-adhesive bandage.
- X-Istence 15y ago
  Paracetamol is the generic drug name all over the world, only the US, Canada, Japan, South-Korea, and Hong Kong uses acetaminophen. Although in Canada they know what paracetamol is at least! So as a Dutch person I was at a pharmacy asking for paracetamol and off course the person behind the counter has absolutely no idea what I am talking about. And directed me to Aleve (naproxen sodium) and Advil (Ibuprofen) and Bayers (Asparin) all of which are NSAID's which can't be taken with certain drugs, and for some reason they are not nearly as effective. It bothered me to no end that the pharmacist had never heard of paracetamol, especially since you have to consider that as a pharmacist you will come in contact with people from all sorts of nationalities.
  - Locke1689 15y ago
    It bothered me to no end that the pharmacist had never heard of paracetamol, especially since you have to consider that as a pharmacist you will come in contact with people from all sorts of nationalities. Maybe, maybe not. Not sure why you assume that. The US is a big place. Also, I'm sure the pharmacist would have known the proper chemical name: para-acetylaminophenol. And directed me to Aleve (naproxen sodium) and Advil (Ibuprofen) and Bayers (Asparin) all of which are NSAID's which can't be taken with certain drugs, and for some reason they are not nearly as effective. None of this is strictly correct. There are many cases in which other NSAIDs are more effective. It's true that other NSAIDs have some poor drug interactions, but acetaminophen does as well (alcohol being the most notable and important).
    - X-Istence 15y ago
      Sorry, I should have specified, paracetamol is the only effective pain killer I have found. The others don't have nearly the same effect.
- palish 15y ago
  The "Drug Store" part cracked me up. Thank you.
_frog 15y ago
I think we have to distinguish between a term being ubiquitous and generic. I know it's fairly common for someone in the US to refer to a tissue as a Kleenex but that doesn't mean other tissue brands can market their goods under that same title.

I wonder how Apple will counter the statement that Jobs made about the multiple app stores on Android. It seeks as he already used it as a generic term.

by Osiris 15y ago

I wonder how Apple will counter the statement that Jobs made about the multiple app stores on Android. It seeks as he already used it as a generic term.

SoftwareMaven 15y ago

Same way I'd respond if I was the CEO of Johnson and Johnson and used BandAid when I should have said self-adhesive bandage (or plaster[1]): We own the mark and use the mark so frequently to describe our product that it was a reasonable slip when discussing entities that certainly are similar to the thing our mark describes. [1] Completely unrelated: My first trip to England, I had to buy some Doc Martins from THE Doc Martin store (bucket list kind of thing :). So I'm walking around a lot in them as I schlep around the Midlands and Yorkshire for various meetings and some site seeing, and I've managed to generate some very uncomfortable blisters. I need a BandAid...err...self-adhesive bandage. It's off to the hotel desk in Leeds, "Do you have any BandAids?" "Any what?" "BandAids", I'm now catching on that maybe J&J isn't big here as I see his confused look. I decide to go generic, "Self-adhesive bandages?" The confused look remains. At some point he gets a really pathetic first aid kit without any BandAids in it. I'm now wondering if the UK's medical system was to blame for a country not having self-adhesive bandages. I quickly drop the probability on that to very low, but don't fully eliminate it. I decide it's time to leave the hotel and go where I'm sure I'll find one. "Can you tell me where a drug store is nearby?" Doh. I eventually get pointed to the Chemist. I get there and finally find my BandAids: Plasters? Really? I guess it goes with bendy-busses and the like. Now one more thing. The feet are hurting and some Tylenol would help. Of course there is no Tylenol. I start reading the ingredients, I know acetaminophen must be in one of these. And, of course not. Why didn't I know it was called paracetamol? Needless to say, my US centric view of the world was shattered over the course of those 45 minutes. ...and by the time I finished this story, nobody would care that I used BandAid once to describe a self-adhesive bandage.

X-Istence 15y ago
Paracetamol is the generic drug name all over the world, only the US, Canada, Japan, South-Korea, and Hong Kong uses acetaminophen. Although in Canada they know what paracetamol is at least! So as a Dutch person I was at a pharmacy asking for paracetamol and off course the person behind the counter has absolutely no idea what I am talking about. And directed me to Aleve (naproxen sodium) and Advil (Ibuprofen) and Bayers (Asparin) all of which are NSAID's which can't be taken with certain drugs, and for some reason they are not nearly as effective. It bothered me to no end that the pharmacist had never heard of paracetamol, especially since you have to consider that as a pharmacist you will come in contact with people from all sorts of nationalities.
- Locke1689 15y ago
  It bothered me to no end that the pharmacist had never heard of paracetamol, especially since you have to consider that as a pharmacist you will come in contact with people from all sorts of nationalities. Maybe, maybe not. Not sure why you assume that. The US is a big place. Also, I'm sure the pharmacist would have known the proper chemical name: para-acetylaminophenol. And directed me to Aleve (naproxen sodium) and Advil (Ibuprofen) and Bayers (Asparin) all of which are NSAID's which can't be taken with certain drugs, and for some reason they are not nearly as effective. None of this is strictly correct. There are many cases in which other NSAIDs are more effective. It's true that other NSAIDs have some poor drug interactions, but acetaminophen does as well (alcohol being the most notable and important).
  - X-Istence 15y ago
    Sorry, I should have specified, paracetamol is the only effective pain killer I have found. The others don't have nearly the same effect.
palish 15y ago
The "Drug Store" part cracked me up. Thank you.

_frog 15y ago

I think we have to distinguish between a term being ubiquitous and generic. I know it's fairly common for someone in the US to refer to a tissue as a Kleenex but that doesn't mean other tissue brands can market their goods under that same title.