Genericized trademark

So, let's say your mommy bought you some tissues, but she didn't buy the brand that has "Kleenex" written on it. Instead, she bought the tissues that have some other name on it. Now, the word "Kleenex" is a special word that belongs to the company that sells those tissues. This special word is called a "trademark".

But sometimes, people can start using the word "Kleenex" to mean ALL tissues, even if it's not the exact same kind that the Kleenex company makes. It's like everyone starts calling all tissue "Kleenex" even if Kleenex didn't make it. This is wrong because the word "Kleenex" only belongs to that company.

This is called a "genericized trademark". It means that a trademark word gets used so much that people start using it to mean any product that is similar to the original product, even if it's made by a different company. But it's important to remember that only the original company can use that special word as its trademark.