Quote:
Originally Posted by manaboutown
"When a registered trademark owner fails to police and enforce the unauthorized use of their trademark, the trademark owner risks losing the mark through a form of abandonment known as genericide. Genericide is when a protected mark becomes a generic term for the item it is associated with over time. A trademark suffers genericide when the trademark or tradename becomes so commonly used by the general public that the trademark becomes synonymous with the product, and if the entity that owns the trademark does not fight to keep the trademark protected, the trademark or tradename can become a generic term, i.e., it can lose its legally protectable distinctness."
from: Trademark Genericide: How To Protect Your Brand - Revision Legal |
I doubt there'd be any trademark issues for a person saying, "Hey I know a realtor you can call." It has nothing to do with trademark infringement.
Apart from that, and a total guess, but I would not be surprised if prior to 1950 when NAR trademarked it, everyone used the term realtor. After all, their name is National Association of Realtors. There have been other instances of companies or people trademarking terms in common use.
None of this really matters. I was just saying that we shouldn't get our panties in a bunch if someone refers to a VLS agent as a realtor.