R.I.P. Dry Ice
US mark filed 1925 · unenforceable in the United States from 1932
The story
The DryIce Corporation of America filed for DRY ICE in March 1925 and got its registration in July 1927. Seven years after the filing the Fifth Circuit took it apart: "dry" plus "ice" simply described what solid CO₂ is and does, so the words were not capable of being one company's trademark for the stuff. Dryice Corp. v. Louisiana Dry Ice Corp., 54 F.2d 882 (5th Cir. 1932). The public had frozen it into everyday language before the ink was dry. The paper registration itself lingered on the register, unloved, until it expired in 1989.
The moral
One of the fastest genericides on record. Cold, isn't it?
One grave, one country. Genericide is decided jurisdiction by jurisdiction and class by class: the same word can be the generic name of a product in one country and a live registered mark for the same goods in another. What is described here is the United States.