Personalities # 22 - Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani

We again move to business, where we will see about Dhirubhai Ambani, the pioneer of Reliance Industries.

Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani, one of the leading Indian businessmen, was born on December 28, 1932 in Chorwad, Gujarat and is popularly known as Dhirubhai Ambani. Dhirubhai started off as a small time worker with Arab merchants in the 1950s and moved to Mumbai in 1958 to start his own business in spices. Dhirubhai founded Reliance Industries in 1958. After that it was a saga of expansions and successes. Dhirubhai has been one among the select Forbes billionaires and has also figured in the Sunday Times list of top 50 businessmen in Asia. His sons are carrying on the successful tradition of their illustrious father. At the time of Dhirubhai's death, Reliance Group had a gross turnover of Rs. 75,000 Crore or USD $ 15 Billion. In 1976-77, the Reliance group had an annual turnover of Rs 70 crore and Dhirubhai had started the business with Rs.15,000.

Personalities # 2 - Warren Buffett

Today we will have a look at a short biography of Warren Buffet, currently the third wealthiest man on the planet according to Forbes.

Warren Edward Buffett born August 30, 1930 is an American investor, industrialist and philanthropist. He is one of the most successful investors in the world. Often called the "legendary investor Warren Buffett", he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway He is consistently ranked among the world's wealthiest people and is the third wealthiest person in the world as of 2010. He is often referred to as the "Oracle of Omaha" or "Sage of Omaha". He has a net worth of about $47 Billion.

Generic Trademarks

Today is the last day of the Month of April, so it means that we will have our Monthly Report today. The Factorium is going to start another fact series that will span the 7 weeks of my summer holiday and is named Summer Extravaganza. We will see something about it too in today's report. Before that, let us move on today's fact in which we will see some common genericised trademarks. Today, we will have a list with 5 trademarks:

This list contains 10 trademarks that were originally legally protected but have lost their legality as being a common name within that product or service:

1. Aspirin: Aspirin still continues to remain a trademark name for the Bayer company. It has been declared Generic in some countries due to its popularity in the medical sector. As the chemical name acetylsalicylic acid is too difficult to remember, people prefer to say Aspirin.

2. Cellophane: It is still a registered trademark of Innovia Films Limited and was originally a trademark of DuPont and has become generic due to its widespread use.

3. Escalator: It was originally a trademark of Otis Elevator Company but has become Generic due to its huge Popularity and widespread use and the fact that Otis Elevator Company invented the Escalator or the Lift (as it is called generally).

4. Petrol: Carless, Capel and Leonard invented the Trade name 'petrol' for refined petroleum spirit. Since then, it has slowly and steadily become Generic.

5. Yo-Yo: It is still a Papa's Toy Co. Limited Trademark in some countries but has become genericised in many countries, especially USA and India. It is a good example of a Trademark as almost all the small kids refer to the 'Spinning Toy' as a Yo-Yo.

Generic Trademarks

We are nearing to the end of the Month of April and ahead of us, the Summer Extravaganza of Facts awaits. So let us wrap up the 2 remaining days with lists of some common Generic Trademarks and the firms that have genericised these Trademarks. On the first day, we will see what exactly a Generic Trademark is and on the second day, we will see a list of Generic Trademarks:

A Generic Trademark is trademark or a brand name that has become colloquial or synonymous with a group of Products or Services. It is also known as a Generecised Trademark or a Property Eponym. A classic example of a Generic Trademark is the household use of the Brand 'Dalda'. A many times, 'Dalda' is referred to as Ghee or has become synonymous wit Ghee, but actually it is a Brand Name that is owned by Bunge Limited. Now, when does a particular Brand Name or a Trademark becomes Generalised? Actually, the whole process takes place slowly but steadily depending upon the popularity of that Brand and the fact that it has acquired substantial market dominance over other products or services in its own class is also taken into considerence. An interesting fact regarding generelisation of trademarks is that when that particular Trademark becomes popularised or generic, it puts its legal protection at risk and the Company's rights in the trademark may be lost.

Tomorrow, we will see about some common Generic Trademarks....

What's Behind the Name? - Company Etymologies

The last list of 10 companies and their Etymologies is up for today. It is as follows:

1. Volvo: Thus name originates from the Latin word 'Volvo' meaning 'I Roll' referring to a Ball bearing.

2. Wal-Mart: Named after founder Sam Walton. The 'Wal' was taken to make the name look better.

3. Warner Bros.: Named after the Warner Brothers Jack, Sam, Harold and Albert Warner.

4. Wipro: Short Form of Western India Vegetable Products Limited with the 'W' from Western, 'I' from India and 'Pro' from Products.

5. Wrigley Company: This chewing-gum company is named after its founder William Wrigley Jr.

6. WWE: Short Form of World Wrestling Entertainment, which was formerly called World Wrestling Federation (WWF).

7. Xerox: The name is derived from the word Xerogaphy, a word derived from the Greek word 'Xeros' meaning dry and 'Graphos' meaning Writing.

8. Yahoo!: The word Yahoo (Invented by Jonathan Swift) represents a person who is barely human and is repulsive in appearance and is also associated with an expression of joy. The company founders thus named their company Yahoo.

9. Zuse: This pioneering German Computer Company was named after its founder Konrad Zuse.

10. 20th Century Fox: This Film Studio company was named after the merger of William Fox's 'Fox Film' and 'Twentieth Century Pictures'.

So this subseries has now ended. In the past 7 days we have seen the Company Name Etymologies of 70 major companies in India and Around the World. Three more exciting facts remain to be published in the series 'What's Behind the Name?'.

What's Behind the Name? - Company Etymologies

The list for today is:

1. Suzuki: This name originates from that of its founder, Michio Suzuki.

2. Tata Group: This coglomerate named after Legendary Industrialist Jamshedji Tata, considered 'The Father of Indian Industry'.

3. Toshiba: Named after the merger of two companies, Tokyo Denki and Shibaura Seisaku-sho with the 'To' coming from the former and 'Shiba' from the latter.

4. Toyota: Named after its founder Sakichi Toyoda. Initially, this company was called Toyeda, but the company changed its name to Toyota to make it sound better.

5. Unilever: Named after the merger of Margarine Unie and Lever Brothers.

6. Unisys: Short Form of United Information Systems.

7. UUNET: Named from Unix-to-Unix Network, this company was one of the oldest and largest Internet Service Providers.

8. Virgin: According to Richard Branson, the company founder's autobiography, this name was suggested by one of the girls in school.

9. Vodafone: This name can be divided into 3 parts, 'Vo', 'Da' and 'Fone' with the 'Vo' coming from Voice, 'Da' from Data and 'Fone' from Telephone.

10. Volkswagen: This name translates to 'People's Car' in German with 'Volk' meaning people and 'Wagen' meaning 'Car'.

The last and final batch of 10 names and their etymologies is up for tomorrow....

What's Behind the Name? - Company Etymologies

The list for today is as follows:

1. Qantas: Short form which originated from its original name Queensland And Northen Territoy Aerial Services.

2. Reebok: This preseny day name originates from Rhebok, an African Antelope.

3. Samsung: The word Samsing means 'Three Stars' in Korean.

4. Sanyo: The word Sanyo means 'Three Seas' in Japanese.

5. SAS Airlines: Short form of 'Scandinavian Airlines System'.

6. Saudi Aramco: The name Aramco was derived when California Arabian Standard Oil Company changed its name to 'Arabian American Oil Company' (Aramco from Arabian American Oil) and as the Saudi Government purchased the company in 1980, the name got changed to Saudi Aramco.

7. SEAT: Short form of 'Sociedad Espanola de Automoviles de Turismo' meaning Spanish Corporation of Touring Cars.

8. Siemens: This present company name is the name of its founder Werner von Siemens, who founded the company in 1847.

9. Skype: The original concept for this name was Sky-Peer-to-Peer, which morphed into Skyper and then into Skype.

10. Sony: This present company name comes from the Lain word 'Sonus' meaning sound and 'Sonny', a word used by the Americans to refer to a bright youngester. It was also chosen as it could be pronounced in many different languages.

What's Behind the Name? - Company Etymologies

The list for today is as follows:

1. Maggi: this Old-Days food company was named after its founder Julius Maggi. Altough it was taken over by Nestle, the brand name is still in use today.

2. Mattel: Portmanteau of the names of the founders Harold Mattson and Elliot Handler with the 'Matt' coming from 'Mattson' and 'El' from 'Elliot'.

3. McDonald's: Named after the fonder brothers Dic and Mac McDonald.

4. Microsoft: This name was coined by Bill Gates to represent a company devoted to Microcomputer Software. The 'Micro' from Microcomputers and 'Soft' from Software.

5. Mitsubishi: The name Mitsubishi translates to 2 parts with 'Mitsu' meaning Three and 'Hishi' (Later changed to Bishi) meaning Diamond Shape (referring to the rhombus shape). Hence the Three Diamond Logo.

6. Nikon: The present day name is a Short Form of the original name of the company which was Nippon Kogaku meaning 'Japanese Opticals'. The 'Ni' comes from Nippon (Official name of Japan) and 'Kon' comes from Kogaku.

7. Nokia: The present day name cme into place after the Finnish City Nokia, where the company first started as a wood-pump mill.

8. Oracle: Formerly Relational Software Inc., the company changed it's name to Oracle, which was the codename of a CIA Project.

9. Pepsi: Named from the digestive enzyme Pepsin.

10. Pixar: A portmanteau of Pixel and The company's co-founder's name Alvy Ray Smith. The 'Pix' comes from Pixel and the 'Ar' comes from The initials A and R in 'Alvy Ray' respectively.

What's Behind the Name? - Company Etymologies

Today's list of 10 companies and the etymology of their names is as follows:

1. Hyundai: The name connotes the sense of 'Modernity' in Korean.

2. IBM: First named by Thomas John Watson Sr. and the present name is a short from of International Business Machines.

3. ICICI: Short Form of Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India.

4. Intel: Short Form of Integrated Electronics with the 'Int' from Integrated and 'El' from Electronics.

5. Infosys: Short Form for Information Systems with the 'Info' from Information and 'Sys' from System.

6. KFC: Short Form of the original name Kentucky Fried Chicken. The previous name was replaced with KFC to avoid the unhealthy connonations of the word 'Fried'.

7. Kia Motors: The name 'Kia' literally means 'Rising From Asia' in the Hanja Language.

8. Lego: It is the combination of the Danish word 'Leg Godt' which means 'Play Well'.

9. Lenovo: Portmanteau of words 'Le' (derived from previous name Legend) and 'Novo' which translates to 'New' in Latin.

10. L Oreal: This present day name originated from 'Aureole', which was the name given to an innovative hair-colour formula developed by Eugene Schuller, A French Chemist.

What's Behind the Name? - Company Etymologies

Here is the list for today featuring Company Names and their Etymologies:

1. Compaq: From the 'Com' in Computer and 'Paq' in Pack to denote compatibility and quality in a very small integral object.

2. Daewoo: Named by the Company Founder Kim Woo Chong. Daewoo means 'Great House' or 'Great Universe' in Korean.

3. eBay: The word comes from Echo Bay referring to a web consulting concern created by its owner.

4. Epson: This Japanese pheripheral and printer manufacturer was the short from of 'Son of Electronic Printer' with 'E' and 'P' coming from Electronic Printer and 'Son' from 'Son of'.

5. ESPN: Short Form of 'Entertainment and Sports Programming Network'.

6. FedEx: Short Form of Federal Express Corporation, which was the company's original name.

7. GlaxoSmithKline: merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham.

8. Google: The name was formed when the word 'Googol' was misspelled. This name was settled upon as the URL 'gogle.com' was unregistered at that time.

9. HCL: Short Form of 'Hindustan Computers Limited', the original name of the Software company.

10. HP: This present day name originated from the name of the company's founders Bill Hewlett and Steve Packard. They tossed a coin to decide whether the company should be named 'Hewlett-Packard' or 'Packard-Hewlett'.

So 20 up, 50 to go. 10 More coming up for tomorrow.....

What's Behid the Name? - Company Etymologies

For the next week, (from 5th to 11th April) we are going to see lists which will feature names of Random Companies along with their etymologies (The word company here refers to 'a form of Business Organisation'). Every day from now, names of 10 Random Companies and their etymologies (in a short sentence) will be displayed. The names on the left of your screen are all names of present day companies and to the right, their etymologies and in some cases, additional info about them. This subseries is perfectly related to the main series 'What's Behind the Name'. The list for today is:

1. Accenture: Portmanteau of words 'Accent' and 'Future'. This name was the result of a name finding process as previously, this company was known as Anderson Consulting.

2. Acer: Initially ultitech International, the company changed their name to 'Acer' in 1987. 'Acer' is the Latin word for 'sharp, acute, able and facile'.

3. Adidas: This company is named after its founder Adolf Dassler and is a portmanteau of the two words, 'Adi' and 'Das'. 'Adi' is taken from Adolf and 'Das' from Dassler.

4. AOL: The present name originated from 'America Online'. 'A' from America and 'OL' from Online.

5. Apple: Said to originate from the fruit 'Apple' which was the favourite fruit of Co Founder Steve Jobs.

6. BenQ: Short form of 'Bringing Enjoyment and Quality to life'.

7. BMW: Short form of Bayerische Motoren Werke which translates to Bavarian Motor Factories.

8. Canon: This present day name is derived from he company's first Camera Kwanon, which is the japanese name of the Buddhist Bodhisattva of Mercy.

9. Casio: Named after its founder Kashio Tadao, who had set up the company Kashio Seisakujo as a subcontractor factory.

10. Coca-Cola: This name is derived from the Coca Leaves and Kola Nuts used as flavouring. The 'K' in Kola was changed to C to make the new name look better.

In this subseries, we are going to see the etymologies of about 70 companies in the world alphabetically from A to Z. So its 10 up, 60 more to go. 10 More coming up tomorrow....