Brand Names Which Have Become Generic
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Escalator
Brand Names Which Have Become Generic
An escalator is a moving staircase for carrying people between floors of a building. The word "escalator" was trademarked by Charles Seeberger in 1990, to gel with his device's debut at the Explosition Universelle. The verb "escalate" originated in 1922, and had two uses, the primary being "to climb or reach by means of an escalator" or "to travel on an escalator", and the secondary being "to increase or develop by successive stages." In the 1950 landmark case of Haughton Elevator Co. v. Seeberger, it was noted that the term "escalator" is recognized by the general public as the name for a moving stairway, and not the source thereof. All trademark protections were removed from the word "escalator", and the term was officially genericized.

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