The way you describe it is a myth. Half of the 'genericized' products were done so as a concession of WW1 or the company willfully choosing something overly gen

The way you describe it is a myth. Half of the 'genericized' products were done so as a concession of WW1 or the company willfully choosing something overly generic for royalties or poor circumstances (flip phone, videotape, respectively). The rest expired, were caught in disputes with other companies, or occurred before expansions of copyright law. You'll notice the rest of the page is legally protected trademarks that have NOT expired, despite common and generic use by individuals. Hoover did not lose their brand, nor Kleenex.