Also known as: generics · generically · genericness · genericide · genericism · genericalness · genericness test
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
General or common rather than specific or distinctive.
Gideon Graves applies for a state bar license and must swear to support the federal and state constitutions. The oath uses broad language that covers all constitutional processes without naming specific duties. Graves claims the language is too vague and chills speech. The court upholds the oath because the commitment remains general enough to avoid overbreadth concerns.
Gwen Gallagher lives with three unrelated adults in a single-family zone. The city argues the household lacks blood ties and violates the ordinance. Gallagher shows the group functions as a stable household unit. The court finds the living arrangement meets the generic character of a family unit under the zoning rule.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Genesis Pharmaceuticals uses a particular shade of green on pill packaging. A competitor copies the color for its own generic version of the same drug. Genesis sues for trademark infringement. The court holds the color functions as source identification rather than a generic product feature.
Grove Manufacturing operates mines subject to a state subsidence-control statute. The company claims the regulation destroys the value of its support estate. The state defends the law as a general exercise of police power. The court treats the statute as a generic rule applicable to all operators without requiring individualized compensation calculations.
Gerald Gibson takes a prescription medication that causes injury. He sues the manufacturer under strict liability. The manufacturer argues the drug falls under an unavoidably dangerous exception. The court applies the generic product-risk rule to determine whether comment k shields the maker from liability.
Greenleaf Farms challenges a nuclear-safety regulation issued after public comment. The company argues the agency should have considered additional alternatives. The court reviews the rule under the generic standard for arbitrary-and-capricious review. It upholds the regulation because the agency adequately addressed the comments received.
A term becomes generic when it names the product category itself rather than identifying a single source. Courts refuse registration because competitors need the word to describe their own goods. Evidence of consumer usage and dictionary definitions often decides the question.
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The plaintiff must show that recipients actually understood the statement as applying to her rather than to someone else or to no one. Testimony from listeners or contextual evidence can satisfy the burden. Failure to make this showing defeats the claim even if the words are defamatory in the abstract.
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A commitment is generic when it requires only general support for constitutional processes without demanding specific ideological acts. Courts uphold such oaths because they do not chill protected expression or impose overbroad restrictions.
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…is the group home, should not be consequential in meeting the test of the zoning ordinance. So long as the group home bears the generic character of a family unit as a relatively permanent household, and is not a framework for transients or transient living, it conforms to the purpose of the ordinance . . . ." Id. , at…