Legal Definitions - genericness

Genericness is a noun that refers to the state or condition of being generic. It is also known as genericalness or genericism. In other words, it describes something that lacks distinctiveness or uniqueness.

• A company cannot trademark a generic term like "apple" for selling apples.
• The term "cola" is too generic to be trademarked by a single company.
• The defense argued that the term in question had already achieved genericness in the market.

The examples illustrate how a term or product can become too common or widely used to be considered unique or distinctive. When a term becomes generic, it loses its ability to be trademarked or protected by intellectual property laws.