Xerox does the same thing — if someone uses “xerox” when they mean “photocopy” in a newspaper or magazine article, or, God help them, a dictionary, they get a nice letter from Xerox’s attorneys reminding them that Xerox means only Xerox brand copiers and please don’t use “xerox” as a noun (or verb) to mean just any photocopier, thankyouverymuch.

Murphy Beds lost their trademark when the term became synonomous with any brand of bed that folded into a wall. Sony was seriously concerned about it when “Walkman” started meaning any generic portable tape player. Kleenex and Frigidaire still have their trademarks but also tend to get touchy about it from time to time.

TiVo’s brand is everything, and I don’t blame them for being as aggressive about protecting it as they can.