Incidentally, some companies decide not to implement the current trademark policy because they may not have a vested interest in a reseller market, this choice should continue to be left to the trademark holder. The auto industry is a good example, and Ford does not implement the trademark policy on the trademarked phrase “used Ford F150″ because they encourage dealerships and aggregators to handle the used vehicle market.

What eventually will happen in the U.S. and Canada, and has already taken place in Europe, is that search engines will be required by law to completely prevent unauthorized parties from even placing ads on federally protected trademarks.

The real issue here is how “generic” can a phrase be to be allowed trademark status. Let’s look at the company, Discount Tire. People don’t normally search for “discount tire” unless they are looking for the company, Discount Tire. The generic phrase people tend to search for is “discount tires” with an ’s.’

This is where things can get heated. How does the USPTO determine if a phrase is too generic to be trademarked?

…frequently asked questions about the Google Lawsuit