How often have you heard the words "Styrofoam cup"? Whenever I hear such a statement or see it in print, I think that Dow Chemical has an uphill battle convincing the public that there is no such thing as a Styrofoam cup.

"What do you mean?" I hear you ask. It's true. Styrofoam is a trademark for a certain polystyrene foam used for insulation and some flower-arrangement material but never for cups and plates.

Responsible journalists honor trademarks. First and foremost by capitalizing them. Dictionaries, the National Geographic Style Manual, and trademark lists on the Web help determine if a word is a trademark. Dumpster, Ping-Pong, and Day-Glo are all trademarks.

Journalists should use a trademark only if what is being described is indeed the trademarked item and using the trademark is important in context. If the trademark is not significant, use a generic term—gigantic industrial trash bin (ugh!), table tennis, fluorescent pink.

Although trademark organizations advise journalists to use trademarks only as adjectives—never as nouns or verbs—I'm more relaxed when I come across such use, and I do allow it in the pages of National Geographic magazine. I once saw a Coca-Cola annual report that used its trademark as a noun: "a billion Coca-Colas ago was yesterday morning." Language Log recently wrote about a Zappos ad that used its trademark as a verb (I actually have a friend who constantly Zappos). And if a writer wants to talk about "a koala bear Velcroed to a tree trunk," I applaud the image. (Today an editor also has to think about product placement, even in print, but that's another issue.)

I respect trademarks, but I also respect good writing. Use trademarks judiciously to effectively convey your message—and remember to capitalize them.

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