Why Does Ebay Give Me This Choice?

[gymbo_limbo]

If "onesie" is a copyrighted word and people's listings DO get shut down for using it on other brands, why is it a choice in my dropdown? Are they trying to set me up for failure? 

[omgitlightsup]

The wikipedia article is interesting.. "has become a commonly-used word" was what caught my eye.. and further on in the article it says, "seems to have eroded to a generic term."

Trademark protection does not apply if the owner fails to enforce it. "Xerox" is the classical example of how an owner can lose protection by failure to enforce a trademark. I would say that Gerber has the weakest possible claim to the term.

The real reason the auction got the kibosh has nothing to do with trademarks or the law, it's because it's on a list of words that eBay won't let you use.

Single words cannot be copyrighted, by the way. 

[partial*eclipse]

Singel words can be trademarked, however, which is what we're talking about here.

One reason that Gerber is so vigorous in their VeRO enforcement of their trademark rights is to prevent "Onesie" from becoming a generic term. Remember, Wiki articles are written by the general public; they're not some sort of legal document.  There are indeed some terms that are no longer trademarked (aspirin, heroin, lanolin), but "Onesie" isn't one of them.  Here's another Wiki article that refers to Onesies:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_generic_and_genericized_trademarks

[Anonymous]

---

@gymbo_limbo wrote:

If "onesie" is a copyrighted word and people's listings DO get shut down for using it on other brands, why is it a choice in my dropdown? Are they trying to set me up for failure? 

---

Hey everyone, I've gotten this over to our developers for adjustments! I apologize for the confusion on this point and while we may need to make some adjustments to comply with the trademark on this term, I can assure you that we are here to protect you from any negative impact for any of our mistakes. 

@janet9988 thanks for grabbing me on this!

[coolections]

---

@lookng2015 wrote:
Maybe it's there because some are selling genuine onesies?

---

Correct, I find it hard to believe there are those who do not understand the concept.

[janet9988]

---

@coolections wrote:

---

@lookng2015 wrote:
Maybe it's there because some are selling genuine onesies?

---

Correct, I find it hard to believe there are those who do not understand the concept.

---

Go look at the OPs screen shot. The brand name was Land's End. Ebay had a drop down menu for the style.  Onesie cannot be used for Lands End (the brand name) and should not appear anywhere as a selection for style. Onesie is NOT a brand name. Gerber is.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

---

@gymbo_limbo wrote:

If "onesie" is a copyrighted word and people's listings DO get shut down for using it on other brands, why is it a choice in my dropdown? Are they trying to set me up for failure? 

---

Hey everyone, just wanted to update you all that we've gotten this renamed to One Piece in the drop downs on eBay.com, eBay.co.uk and eBay.au 🙂 We are currently working on changing this across all other platforms and this should be completed shortly.

Thanks again for grabbing me on this!

[castlemagicmemories]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@gymbo_limbo wrote:

If "onesie" is a copyrighted word and people's listings DO get shut down for using it on other brands, why is it a choice in my dropdown? Are they trying to set me up for failure? 

---

Hey everyone, just wanted to update you all that we've gotten this renamed to One Piece in the drop downs on eBay.com, eBay.co.uk and eBay.au 🙂 We are currently working on changing this across all other platforms and this should be completed shortly.

Thanks again for grabbing me on this!

---

@Anonymous

That is AWESOME!  Seriously, I have been reading threads on ONESIES for AEONS by unhappy and frustrated sellers.  AS ALWAYS, A HUGE THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!  (Not shouting at you, caps are just for emphasis!)  

[klassic*kids]

@Anonymous  Hate to be ornery Trinton but 'bodysuit' would have been a more appropriate word to use, as rompers are also 'one piece' but they are not a bodysuit (aka: a "onesie").   But either way it's better than having the optioin of "onesie" in there for brands other than Gerber.