Bayer 1853—a modification of salicylic acid or salicin, a folk remedy found in the bark of the willow plant. By 1899 Bayer's trademark Aspirin was registered worldwide for Bayer's brand of acetylsalicylic acid, but it lost its trademark status in the United States, France and the United Kingdom after the confiscation of Bayer's US assets and trademarks during World War I by the United States, and because of the subsequent widespread usage of the word. The term "aspirin" continued to be used in the US, UK and France for all brands of the drug, but it is still a registered trademark
Generic trademark use. Once it has become an appellative, the word cannot be registered any more; this is why companies try hard not to let their trademark become too common, a phenomenon that could otherwise be considered a successful move since it would mean that the company gained an exceptional recognition. Nintendo is an example of a brand that successfully fought trademark erosion, having managed to replace excessive use of its name by the then-neologism game console. Whether or not a mark is popularly identified as genericized, the owner of the mark may still be able to enforce the proprietary rights that