First Brand Names Get "Imprinted"

       The brand name that gets there first for a product which becomes widely adopted gets to be the name on people's lips for whatever imitations follow in its wake.

       "Eversharp" pencils when I was growing up--the first "mechanical" pencils with lead you could roll out as it wore down and thus be "ever sharp" compared to wood pencils.

       "Kleenex" tissues as the first "throwaway" handkerchiefs.

       "'Xerox' it," people said, for making copies.

       "iPhone" is probably the "default" name for smart phones currently, regardless of brand.

       And I guess that being the inventor or at least first on the market with a product has earned the "generic" naming rights.