R.I.P. Linoleum
Coined 1864 · generic in England since 1878
The story
Frederick Walton coined 'Linoleum' in 1864 for his floor covering of solidified linseed oil: linum (flax) and oleum (oil). He patented the process but never registered the name as a trade mark, and by the time the patents ran out and he went after a rival, the English Court of Chancery held the word had already become the ordinary name of the product: Linoleum Manufacturing Co. v. Nairn (1878) 7 Ch D 834. Fourteen years from invention to public property, and generally reckoned the first trademark ever to be genericised.
The moral
The original cautionary tale. Register early, enforce often.
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 England.