Bayer coined Aspirin as a brand in 1899. Today, in the US and much of the world, it is simply the word for the pill — a genericised mark. In other countries, where it was defended, Aspirin remains Bayer's property to this day.
What went wrong
A mix of history and neglect: wartime expropriations, settlements, and — decisively — years in which the name was used generically without consistent policing. US courts held as early as 1921 that to buyers, 'aspirin' meant the product itself. The same word, managed differently across borders, produced opposite outcomes — the cleanest natural experiment in what watching is worth.
The takeaways
Rights are jurisdictional: identical marks live or die by how each territory is maintained.
Loss is gradual, then sudden — by the time genericide is obvious, it is usually done.
Nobody at Bayer decided to lose Aspirin. Nobody was assigned to keep it, everywhere, either.
The lesson for your business
Someone must own the calendar and the watch — renewals, usage, territories. If that someone is 'whoever remembers', this story is the eventual ending.
