A recent story in USA Today asked whether “iPad” will become the generic term for tablet computers. While I’m glad that the media are discussing trademarks at all, I think the article didn’t accurately communicate how and why some trademarks become generic, while others don’t. Let’s take a look at the concept of Genericide, applied to how Apple positions its products, and show why “iPad” is not generic for “Tablet” in the real world. Genericide “Aspirin” was originally a trademark owned by Bayer. Over time, the word became, in the eyes of the public, a generic term for the underlying…