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Today, there are hundreds of once highly protected famous name brands, which were backed by multi-million dollar promotional budgets, now commonly used in daily lingo as generic names, as it was their huge popularity that made them lose their trademark protection. So why is the use of famous trademarked names as 'verbs' in our daily language feared by the attorneys representing that mark? Now this calls for a closer look.

For example, when you open your fridge, have an aspirin, use a kleenex and watch the kids in spandex jumping the trampoline, then go out roller-blading later, you sit xeroxing, then fedexing and have a granola, or may be googling on the net. All these highlighted names are generic, and their respective owners try very hard to keep them unique by means of graphic logos for better identification.

Currently, the term, "to google", is in Oxford English Dictionary with a lower case "g". This is indicative that the word 'to google' has entered the English language as a word, and therefore, making it very difficult for the originators, Google™, to keep it exclusive for themselves. Today, anyone can manufacture a frigde, trampoline or a roller-blade, so does this mean that there will be googling devices and googling softwares, or google kits produced by others?

Now the giant of the search engine universe, Google™ flares up and warns media to back off from using its most powerful moniker, Google™ as a "verb". This now calls for an even closer look.

Second, every half century or so, consumers get a break that revolutionizes their daily lives - like the light bulb, the credit card, the Internet - and now, Air Google. Aha! Bring your seat to an upright position.

First of all, it is all about our cultural transition surrounded by today's Novo-Psycho-Cyber-Dependency-Behavior... i.e., an uncontrollable and unstoppable compulsion disorder to become fully symbiotronically attached oneself to various access devices with the body, and to search the net for hidden secrets and hidden bargains in the farthest and darkest corners of the world. This cultural revolution and this cyber-dependency-behavior both embrace the centrality of 'googlization' as its main force. The popularity of Google™ is awesome, and soon, historians will refer to our current times as a Search-Craze-Era. Well done, Google™...viva le search.

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Naseem Javed, recognized as a world authority on corporate image and global name identities, is a harsh critic of casual and accidental naming. He is a dynamic speaker on corporate image and branding issues, and is also the author of Naming for Power. He founded ABC Namebank International, an image and branding consultancy over 25 years ago. Website: www.abcnamebank.com