R.I.P. Hovercraft
Coined in the 1950s · an ordinary word in UK law since 1968
The story
Christopher Cockerell coined the word for his air-cushion vehicle, built with Saunders-Roe (the SR.N1 crossed the Channel in 1959) and licensed through Hovercraft Development Ltd, which filed over 200 patents. The invention was so singular that no other word for it ever existed, so 'hovercraft' was the name of the thing from the day it launched. Parliament made it official. The Hovercraft Act 1968 defines 'hovercraft' at section 4(1) as a category of vehicle, which is what ordinary English words get, and what trademarks very much do not.
The moral
Invent something truly new? Name it twice. This one never had a second name to fall back on.
The odd one out. The other graves here held registrations that were cancelled or allowed to lapse; we have found no evidence that 'hovercraft' was ever sustained as a registered trademark anywhere. It is less a death than a word that was born generic. Genericide proper is decided jurisdiction by jurisdiction and class by class.