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Like Netsurfing or E-Mail and many thousands of other brand names that became common generic terms, Google is now swimming in the same soup, and if you google today or talk about googling, watch out as you are seriously upsetting this monster search engine. To many, this may sound like free advertising, though in reality, this is a corporate nightmare - a code-red alert strikes the boardroom.
Legal SWAT teams swing into action to protect their successful global brand, and an aggressive policing of corporate name usage kicks in. Who knows, with so much technology available, imagine, if you typed in an e-mail, "Honey, I just got tired of googling..." Bang... a stern message will pop up on your screen lecturing you on generic name rules 101, or even better, your system will simply crash and only re-open after you fax a signed and dually notarized apology.

Normally, lawyers can issue fancy memos on embossed stationery designed to force people and media to always refer to a brand name as a registered trademark of the company. They also instruct their advertising and branding agencies to avoid making creative uses and plays on the name when it is used in commercials or general promotional copies of ads. If a name is too playful then it also quickly becomes adopted in the language as a word like roller-blade.

Right now, even on the google site itself, the use of the word 'gooooooooogle' to represent the number of results pages in more dilution of the mark and so are the weekly cartooning on their main page that can lead to becoming a folklore content. However, this is a long and a painful process and in the end, it is the public that decides as to when and how a name will become generic and when will it lose its trademark powers.

Fortunately, studies have shown that certain alpha-structures do not easily lend themselves to verbing. Despite their fame and popularity in daily language, these types of names survive over time and remain powerful corporate brands while enjoying a proprietary status. Some examples are Yahoo, Apple, Netscape, Telus, Microsoft, Sony, Rolex and Nintendo. Have you ever heard, "I Rolexed and realized I was late?" or, "Leave me alone, I'm Appling"? How about, "I just Nintendozed off," or, "I was depressed and very Microsoftish"? Kindly let me know if you ever come across such "google de gook."

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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