what is the word for an industrial word that becomes a common word?
for example, in england the hoover vaccuum cleaner became part of the
general language -- to hoover a room. what is the word to describe
this process?

Dear jagman-ga,

The term is ?Proprietary Eponyms?.

"These are general words that are, or were at one time, proprietary
brand names or service marks. Kleenex, for example, is a brand of
facial tissues, yet the word is used today to refer to facial tissues
of any brand. Xerox is a brand of photocopy machine; that word, too,
has been since adopted to refer to any brand of photocopy machine and,
moreover, also employed as a verb to describe the act of photocopying.
As this illustrates, although brand names are proper adjectives (as
in, "Kleenex facial tissues"), when such terms are adopted for general
use they tend to become nouns and often also verbs."
http://rinkworks.com/words/eponyms.shtml


Database of American Proprietary Eponyms
"An eponym is a general term used to describe from what or whom
something derived its name. Therefore, a proprietary eponym could be
considered a brand name (product or service mark) which has fallen
into general use."
http://www.prairienet.org/~rkrause/brands.html


I hope this answers your question. If it does not, or the answer is
unclear, then please ask for clarification of this research before
rating the answer. I shall respond to the clarification request as
soon as I receive it.
Thank you
answerfinder


Search strategy
etymology hoover
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=etymology+hoover
Proprietary Eponyms
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Proprietary+Eponyms

excellent, prompt reply.  thanks.

You may also wish to see this previous answer string:
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=303343

Owners of these trademarks fight long and hard to prevent them from
becoming generic.  Kleenex and Xerox would argue mightily that their
marks are not generic for facial tissue and photocopying.  See
http://interact.uoregon.edu/MediaLit/mlr/readings/articles/Trademark_Battles.html
and http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/archives/9501/techwhirl-9501-00656.html

Dear jagman-ga,
Thank you for the tip. Pleased I could help.
answerfinder-ga