A genericized trademark is a brand that has become synonymous with the class of product being sold like Dumpster, Kleenex, Q-Tip, Band-Aid, Jell-O, Styrofoam, and so on. Today in the tech world most consumers have a hard time telling the difference between the company and the product they sell. When asked what operating system they are running a typical response might be "Microsoft" or "Apple". A typical user cannot distinguish between Internet Explorer and the Internet itself. The latest example in the tech world is the use of the company name "Adobe" to refer to any of its products.

Whenever I have to install or update Adobe Acrobat, I always have to go back in afterward and remove the Acrobat plugin from the Library/Internet Plug-ins directory. With the most recent update to Acrobat Reader 9.1, I spotted a new option. I was able to uncheck this plugin. Thank you Adobe for giving me this option. Preview is just fine for me for 99% of my needs.