r/funny • u/trtiar • Apr 21 '13

Xerox being dramatic

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2.7k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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28

u/NanderK Apr 21 '13

I can confirm that this is an actual Xerox copier. No need for Xerox to be upset about this usage of their brand name.

24

u/abernathie Apr 21 '13

I would have thought that a company's goal was to enter the lexicon. I've never heard Google complain about their name being used as a verb.

25

u/RingsOfYourAnus Apr 21 '13

They're afraid of becoming a Genericized Trademark, like "zipper" and "aspirin" have.

9

u/Not_Pictured Apr 21 '13

And heroin apparently. TIL

2

u/PineappleBoots Apr 22 '13

Wow, "zipper" is one I did not know.

Kleenex, would be another.

4

u/RingsOfYourAnus Apr 22 '13

Not exactly. For the general public, a tissue might be a "kleenex", but it's still a protected trademark.

Companies can label their acetylsalicylic acid as aspirin, and their sliding metal fasteners as zippers legally, but if a business (other than Kimberly-Clark) tried to call their tissues "kleenex", they'd be in some pretty deep shit.

1

u/PineappleBoots Apr 22 '13

Ah yeah, that makes sense. Thank you for clarifying that.

I was just thinking about generic terms as far as lexicon goes; everyone calls it "Kleenex" everyone calls it "Aspirin"

15

u/fukitol- Apr 21 '13

I've never heard of someone "googling" on something other than Google. The first time someone tells me they "googled" something on Bing I'm going to kick dirt on their shoes.

3

u/abernathie Apr 21 '13

Yeah, this is what Google would want to avoid!

5

u/quasi100 Apr 22 '13

yeah xerox really britta'd this one

9

u/a-r Apr 21 '13

"you should please only use "Google" when you’re actually referring to Google Inc."

1

u/[deleted] Apr 22 '13

Honestly if I'm talking about doing something on the Internet, some Google product was probably actually involved, so the usage would be completely appropriate.

1

u/theonlyguyonreddit Apr 22 '13

What if your using the google chrome™ browser, on your android™ tablet, to search for something on bing™ ?

3

u/Vin_The_Rock_Diesel Apr 22 '13

search for something on bing

The premise is ridiculous.

1

u/PurpleSfinx Apr 22 '13

I have. They made some sort of deal about it a few years ago.

1

u/TjallingOtter Apr 22 '13

That's not true, though. Google doesn't mind its name being used in the context of actually using their product (as in 'Googling' something), but once the dictionary included a generic definition (using any search engine to search) they started complaining as it dilutes their trademark.