Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Generic |
GenericAdjective1. (biology) relating to or common to or descriptive of all members of a genus; "the generic name". 2. (of drugs) not protected by trademark; "`Acetaminophen' is the generic form of the proprietary drug `Tylenol'". 3. Applicable to an entire class or group; "is there a generic Asian mind?". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "generic" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1550. (references) |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Generic can be used in the following contexts:
- Generic programming
- Generic drug
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Generic."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
A generic drug is a drug which is identical or equivalent to a brand name drug in dosage, safety, strength, route of administration, quality, performance characteristics and intended use but is usually cheaper than the branded version.Generic drug can be legally produced for drugs where the patent has expired, or for drugs which have never held patents. The expiration of a patent removes the monopoly of the patent holder on drug sales licensing. Some countries are considering amending legislation to allow the manufacture of generic versions of AIDS drugs only for export to developing countries. This compromise protects the rights of patent holders in the home country while meeting the needs of developing countries for inexpensive medications.
External links
- USFDA, Office of Generic Drugs
- UK Department of Health, generic drugs
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Generic drug."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Genericized trademarks are trademarks used to mean more than the original product. Trademarks, unlike other forms of intellectual property such as copyrights and patents, must be actively used and defended. A copyright or patent holder may simply "sit on" his creation and prevent its use, but a trademark owner claiming and even registering a trademark that fails to make active use of it, or fails to defend it against infringement may lose the exclusive right to use it. Further, if a court rules that a formerly trademarked term has become so successful in gaining mind share and becomes "generic" through common use (and so the average consumer doesn't realize it is a trademark), it may also be ruled invalid. A trademark may also become generic if the owner of the trademark registration fails to comply with the registration requirements.Trademark owners should never use the trademark as a verb or noun, implying the word is generic. Likewise, using the trademark as a plural or possessive (i.e. a noun) will imply the trademark is generic.
Trademark owners whose trademark is commonly used by consumers may have to take special proactive measures. Xerox took out ads advising consumers to "photocopy" instead of "Xeroxing" documents. In a less drastic but more common practice, many owners follow their trademark with the word "brand" to help define the word as a trademark. Johnson & Johnson changed the lyrics of their BAND-AID television commercial jingle from, "I am stuck on BAND-AIDs, 'cause BAND-AID's stuck on me" to "I am stuck on BAND-AID brand, 'cause BAND-AID's stuck on me."
The concept of genericized trademarks is parodied in the 1993 film Demolition Man where Taco Bell is used as the generic word for "restaurant"; even fine dining establishments.
In 2003 the European Union is seeking to restrict the use of region names as trademarks for speciality food and drink to manufacturers from the region. Extending these restrictions outside Europe is controversial because regional names that are trademarks within Europe are often considered generic in other countries. It is made even more difficult where regional names have been trademarked outside Europe, such as Parma ham, which is trademarked in Canada by a Canadian manufacturer, preventing the manufacturers from Parma from using their own name. Products affected include Champagne, Bordeaux and many other wine names, Roquefort, Parmesan and Feta cheese, Scotch whisky and Parma ham. In the 1990s the Parma consortium successfully sued the Asda supermarket chain to prevent it using the trademark Parma on ham not produced and packed in Parma.
English words that were originally trademarks:
Words that are often used as a "generic" but still trademarked. (This is necessarily a "subjective" list.)
- Allen wrench - hexagonal screwdriver (A rarity among generic words, 'Allen wrench' is no longer trademarked, but is still capitalized because it is named after a person)
- aspirin - ASA (still trademarked in Canada)
- cellophane - transparent paper
- celluloid - film material
- cola - soft drink; genericized part of Coca-Cola (see definition 2 at [1])
- dry ice - frozen carbon dioxide
- escalator - moving staircase
- gramophone - record player
- granola - oats and fruit bar
- heroin - narcotic drug; originally registered by Bayer as a pain reliever
- jungle gym - play structure (from 'Junglegym')
- LP - long playing record
- linoleum - floor covering
- merry widow - strapless corset
- mimeograph - reproduction machine
- moxie - courage (originally a soft drink)
- pianola - player piano
- pogo stick - bouncing stick (trademark was one word, 'Pogo')
- spandex - polyurethane fiber; an anagram of "expands" [1]
- tarmac - runway
- yo-yo - toy
- zeppelin - dirigible
- zipper
- Airfix (UK) - plastic model
- Aqua-Lung - Scuba
- AstroTurf - artificial grass
- Baggies - food bags
- BAND-AID - self adhesive bandage
- Bubble wrap - air pocket wrap[1]
- Chap Stick - lip balm
- Cheetos - puffed cheese snacks
- Crock-Pot - slow cooker
- Dictaphone - dictation recorder
- Dixie cups - disposable bathroom cups
- Dumpster - large trash can
- Elastoplast - self adhesive bandage
- Ethernet - LAN protocol
- Frisbee - flying disc
- Formica - laminated plastic surface
- GoKart - mini racing cars
- Hoover - vacuum cleaner
- Hula Hoop - dancing ring
- Jacuzzi - whirlpool bath
- Jaws of Life - rescue tool
- Jeep - army vehicle
- Jell-O - gelatin dessert
- Kleenex - tissue
- Liquid Paper - whiteout
- Magic Marker - felt-tip marker
- Masonite - fiberboard
- Milk-Bone - dog treats
- Muzak - background music
- Nilla Wafers - vanilla wafer cookies
- Ouija - letters on a board game
- Pablum - baby cereal
- PG - parental guidance movie rating as are PG 13, NC
- Ping-Pong - table tennis[1]
- Playbill - theatre program
- Plexiglas - clear plastic sheets
- Post-It - self-adhering notepaper
- Polaroid - instant photography
- Popsicle - flavoured icicle on a stick
- Prozac - antidepressant
- Q-tips - cotton swabs
- Quaalude - drug methaqualone
- Quonset - instant hut
- Realtor - real estate agent [1]
- Rolodex - rotary card file
- Rollerblade - inline roller skates
- Roquefort - type of cheese
- Saran or Saranwrap - transparent plastic wrap
- Scotch tape - transparent adhesive tape
- Sellotape - transparent adhesive tape
- Sheetrock - plasterboard/drywall[1]
- Skidoo - snowmobile
- Skivvies - underwear
- Spackle - wall filling compound
- SPAM - packaged meat
- Stetson - cowboy hat
- Styrofoam - polystyrene filler
- Tabasco - hot spicy sauce
- Taser - electric shock stun gun
- TelePrompTer - electronic speech notes
- Teflon - non-stick surface
- Thermos - vacuum flask
- Tupperware - food storage ware
- Tylenol - acetaminophen tablets
- Valium - tranquillizer
- Vaseline - petroleum jelly
- Velcro - re-usable fastening tape
- VHS - videotape format
- Walkman - portable radio
- Windbreaker - light jacket
- Xerox - photocopying
- Zamboni - ice resurfacing machine
- ZIP Code - postal code
- Ziploc bags - zipper storage bags
- Zodiac - inflatable boat
See also
- trademark
- brand
- brand management
External links
- Time Magazine article on regional trademarking
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Genericized trademark."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
This article is about the biology term. There is also an article about the mathematics term at genus (mathematics) In biology, a genus (plural genera) is a grouping in the classification of living organisms having one or more related or morphologically similar species. In the common binomial nomenclature, the name of an organism is composed of its genus (capitalized) and a species identifier. An example is Homo sapiens, the name for the human species which belongs to the genus Homo.See scientific classification for more details of this system.
The Type Genus of a taxon is the first genus to be named and described. Families and, in plants, all taxa up to division are named after the type genus.
A genus name in one kingdom is allowed to be the same as a genus or other taxon name in another kingdom. For instance, Anura is a genus of plants as well as the order of frogs; Aotus is both a pea and a monkey. It is, however, not allowed for two genera in the same kingdom to have the same name; this explains why the platypus is called Ornithorhynchus--"platypus" was originally chosen, but the name had already been given to an obscure invertebrate (invertebrates are in the same kingdom, Animalia, as the platypus).
See also: Linnaean taxonomy, cladistics
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Genus."
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Generality | Adjective: general, generic, collective; broad, comprehensive, sweeping; encyclopedical, widespread; (dispersed). |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Scrubbing floors for Beverly Leslie. I can smell his generic cleaning products all over you (Will & Grace; writing credit: Evan Weinstein) Exactly! Temporary. You're nothing but a wannabe, a placebo, a generic brand (Osmosis Jones; writing credit: Marc Hyman) | |
Song Titles | Generic Blues (performing artist: Weird Al Yankovic) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References | |||
Books | |||
Periodicals |
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Music |
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High Tech |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Generic laboratory shot circa 1950 showing researchers garbed with full mask and head covering and laboratory equipment. Credit: Roy Perry (photographer). |  | Generic Drugs : Your Rx for Savings. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |
| "Black and white tree" by Philip Jackson Commentary: "The veiny branches stretching out in this one. a simple pic really of a tree from beneath. black and white seperates from a lot of generic tree shots. i'd love to get into infrared pics, this isn't one, being from a digi cam but all the same..." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| Author | Quotation |
Iris Murdoch | Moralistic is not moral. And as for truth -- well, it's like brown -- it's not in the spectrum. Truth is so generic. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Generic versions are available for many antiepileptic drugs. (references) | |
A more generic question involves redistribution of resources. (references) | ||
The database is searchable by brand name, generic name or by indication. (references) | ||
Business | Similar growth can be found in the generic pharmaceuticals market. (references) | |
Also demand for generic drugs, especially cheaper local production, is high and increasing. (references) | ||
The IT units in this segment are mostly generic clone PCs, and the software is usually pirated. (references) | ||
Economic History | Kuwait | Kuwait restricts the sale of generic drugs. (references) |
West Bank | Wholesale channels and generic sales are not well developed. (references) | |
Ecuador | The law mandates that Government entities buy only generic drugs. (references) | |
Political Economy | ECUADOR | The "Law on Generic Drugs", passed in 2000, forbids Government entities from buying branded pharmaceutical products. (references) |
PHILIPPINES | The Generics Act of 1988 mandates that the generic name of a particular pharmaceutical product appear above its brand name on all packaging. (references) | |
NETHERLANDS | Adhering to the EU shipbuilding regime, the Dutch have discontinued generic support of their shipbuilding industry effective January 1, 2001. (references) | |
Trade | Canada | Product Identity Declaration: describes a product's common or generic name, or its function. (references) |
Honduras | The name, which is normally specific and not generic, must indicate the true nature of the product. (references) | |
Luxembourg | Rather, ISO 9000 standards encompass certain generic management practices designed to benefit both the producer and end user. (references) | |
Travel | Czech Rep | Travellers should carry prescriptions noting generic names. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Jimmy Carter | 1977-1981 | The Administration has also recommended that the Congress enact legislation to give the President generic authority to recommend appropriations for channel dredging activities. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Generic" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Generic" is used about 610 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 100% | 610 | 10,562 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "generic": generic access profile ♦ generic Array Logic ♦ generic drug ♦ generic Expert System Tool ♦ generic font ♦ generic functions ♦ generic identifier ♦ generic inference engine ♦ generic markup ♦ generic name ♦ generic posting ♦ generic programming ♦ generic relation ♦ generic Routing Encapsulation ♦ generic Security Service Application Programming Interface ♦ generic term ♦ generic thunk ♦ generic type variable ♦ generic unit ♦ save generic. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "generic": generic-specialist, generic-strategies. | |
Ending with "generic": cross-generic, pseudo-generic, specialist-generic, sub-generic. | |
Containing "generic": extra-added-indie-generic-overlay. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "generic"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | gjinisor, gjenerik, i përgjithshëm (all out, appellative, blanket, common, ecumenical, general, overall, public, sketchy, universal). (various references) | |
Arabic | سائب (unbridled), عام (catholic, common, encyclic, general, gross, historical, open, prevailing, public, rife, sketchy, universal, year), جنسي متعلق بالجنس الاحيائي, شامل (catholic, comprehensible, comprehensive, extensive, full, full scale, general, global, including, inclusive, overall, pandemic, perfect, sweeping, thorough, total, universal). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | родов (ancestral, lineal, septal, tribal), с широко приложение, общ (aggregate, blanket, broad, collective, common, communal, corporate, general, global, impersonal, joint, omnibus, overall, solid, total, wide), обширен (ample, broad, commodious, comprehensive, expansive, extensive, far flung, large, large scale, rangy, spacious, vast, vasty, voluminous, wide). (various references) | |
Chinese | 普通 (Generical, Ordinary, run-of-the-mill). (various references) | |
Czech | rodový (clannish, tribal). (various references) | |
Danish | generisk. (various references) | |
Dutch | generiek. (various references) | |
Farsi | نوعی , کلی (General, Material, Total, Totality, Universal), وابسته به تیره , عمومی (Common, Encyclical, Exoteric, General, Overt, Public, Rife, Universal, Wide), عام (Ecumenical), جنسی (Kind, Sex, Sexual). (various references) | |
Finnish | geneerinen, yleiseen käyttöön hyväksytty, lajia koskeva. (various references) | |
French | générique (general problem solver). (various references) | |
German | generisch (generative, sexual), ohne markenname, auswählbar (selectable), übergeordnet (higher, overriding, paramount, senior, superior, superordinate). (various references) | |
Greek | κοινή ονομασία φαρμάκου, γένιος, γένουσ, γενικόσ (catholic, general, omnibus, universal), χωρίς εμπορικό σήμα, χαρακτηριστικός (attributive, typical). (various references) | |
Hebrew | מיני (sexual, venereal), כללי (bulk, common, general, sketchy, universal). (various references) | |
Hungarian | nemi (carnal, copulatory, genital, sexual, some, venereal), nem-, genus-, generikus, általános (broad, civil engineering, common, current coin, general, indefinite, ordinary, overhead, public, selective service, skedaddle, to pass current, to run current, universal, usual, worldwide). (various references) | |
Italian | generico (general). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 汎用 (all-purpose, general purpose), 後発品 (me-too), ジェット燃料 (diethylene glycol, diopter, gem, gemstone, gender, gender gap, general, general strike, generalist, generate, generation, generation gap, generator, generic brand, genetic, genetic algorithms, genetic system, genocide, gentleman, geography, geology, geometric, geometry, Geotopia, gerontocracy, gerontology, Japanese External Trade Organization, jealousy, jelly, Jenkins, Jerry, jet fuel, JETRO, The End). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | こうはつひん (me-too), ジェネリック , はんよう (all-purpose, general purpose). (various references) | |
Korean | 일반 (general, Generical). (various references) | |
Manx | keintagh (generical). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | enericgay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | genérico (general, usual). (various references) | |
Romanian | generic (main titles), general (all round, broad, common, general, grand, immanent, rife, universal, usual), universal (common, general, pervasive, universal, universally, worldwide), referitor la gen. (various references) | |
Russian | родовой (ancestral, clannish, parturient, patrimonial, tribal), общий;родовой, общий (blanket, collective, common, conjoint, corporate, general, genl general, global, joint, mutual, overall, sharable, shareable). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | generičan, rodni, opšti (broad, common, general, overhead, public, universal). (various references) | |
Spanish | genérico (generic unit). (various references) | |
Swedish | generell (across the board, general, generical, overall). (various references) | |
Turkish | genelleyici, genel (across the board, blanket, broad, collective, common, exoteric, general, grand, liberal, overhead, plenary, prevailing, prevalent, running, sweeping, widespread), kapsamlı (across the board, blanket, comprehensive, exhaustive, universal, well-rounded, wide), cinse özgü. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | родовий (ancestral, clannish, generical, genitive, lineal, patrimonial, race), загальний (aggregate, all out, appellative, blanket, collective, common, general, generical, global, net, nominal, overall, pandemic, universal). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "generic": generically, genericness, genericnesses, generics. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "generic": bigeneric, congeneric, intergeneric. (additional references) | |
| |
"Generic" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Gemerek, genaric, geneic, generacy, genere, generes, generia, generica, generis, genertic, genery, genetric, gennanica, Gennari, Genrikh, Giegerich, Gingerich, Menerbi, Penerbit. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "generic" (pronounced june"rik) |
| 4 | -e" r i k | alphanumeric, atmospheric, cleric, Derrick, esoteric, hysteric, ionospheric, mesenteric, numeric. |
| 3 | -r i k | anthropocentric, Baldric, barbaric, barometric, boric, caloric, choric, citric, concentric, dissymmetric, eccentric, econometric, egocentric, electric, ethnocentric, euphoric, fabric, gastric, geocentric, geometric, geriatric, gravimetric, hemispheric, historic, hydroelectric, hyperbaric, lyric, mercuric, meteoric, metric, nitric, obstetric, optometric, parametric, pediatric, photoelectric, pinprick, prehistoric, psychiatric, pyrrhic, rubric, satiric, sophomoric, stearic, stratospheric, sulfuric, tantric, vampiric, vitric. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "c-e-e-g-i-n-r" | |
-1 letter: cering, cringe. | |
-2 letters: genic, genie, genre, green, nicer, niece, reign, renig. | |
-3 letters: cere, cine, cire, eger, erne, gene, gien, girn, gree, grin, nice, rein, rice, ring. | |
-4 letters: cee, cig, eng, ere, erg, ern, gee, gen, gie, gin, ice, ire, nee, rec, ree, reg, rei, rig, rin. | |
-5 letters: en, er, in, ne, re. | |
| Words containing the letters "c-e-e-g-i-n-r" | |
+1 letter: cheering, creeling, creeping, erecting, erogenic, generics, gentrice, receding. | |
+2 letters: bigeneric, breeching, careening, careering, centering, concierge, congeries, creeshing, creneling, decerning, decreeing, endoergic, energetic, excreting, exergonic, gentrices, glycerine, greensick, grievance, lechering, preceding, receiving, recessing, rechewing, recognise, recognize, recoinage, reechoing, refecting, refencing, regencies, rejecting, resecting, screeding, screening, secerning, secreting, urgencies. | |
+3 letters: adrenergic, allergenic, breechings, centigrade, centrifuge, checkering, chequering, cinemagoer, coerecting, coexerting, compeering, concierges, congeneric, crenelling, cryogenies, decentring, decreasing, divergence, divergency, egocentric, electroing, endergonic, energetics, erotogenic, estrogenic, excerpting, execrating, exercising, geocentric, glycerines, grandniece, grecianize, greenfinch, grievances, insurgence, neurogenic, orogenetic, perceiving, perfecting, pickeering, precenting, precessing, prelecting, proceeding, reacceding, receipting, rechecking, recleaning, recognised, recognises, recognized, recognizer, recognizes, recoinages, recovering, recreating, redeciding, reejecting, reelecting, reenacting, reerecting, reflecting, regnancies, resecuring, respecting, reteaching, sceptering, schmeering, screeching, screenings, synergetic, turgencies, vicegerent. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Images: Digital Art 8. Quotations: Familiar | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Quotations: Speeches 11. Usage Frequency 12. Expressions | 13. Expressions: Internet 14. Translations: Modern 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
