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Latest comment: 5 years ago3 comments2 people in discussion
As far as I am aware, no one calls this mobile shelving, I don't know where that term came from. They are called "Compactus". Running a search on google, Compactus is used more than Mobile shelving. Deathlibrarian (talk) 06:21, 11 April 2019 (UTC)Reply
I have never previously heard of Compactus (though from Googling I see that it is sometimes used generically): I suspect it's US-specific, and is certainly a trade name. Certainly in the UK, the standard generic term is "mobile shelving" or "rolling stack". GrindtXX (talk) 12:52, 11 April 2019 (UTC)Reply
I'm not in the US, I'm in Australia. Everyone here says Compactus, I'd never heard the terms mobile shelving or rolling stack before. Its not a brand name - the term is used by various manufacturers, and doesn't refer to one brand. https://www.brownbuilt.com.au/product-tag/compactus/
This company gives it as a registered trade mark, and elsewhere it seems to be spelled (sometimes, not invariably) with a capital C, suggesting that it started out, at least, as a trade name. One of the leading suppliers in the UK and Europe is Bruynzeel, and their page here gives roughly the same range of names that we use, with "Compactus" as a type-name used for specific varieties. I'd have no objection to "Compactus" (capitalised or not) being added to the list of names in the first sentence, but I still think "mobile shelving" is a better generic term. GrindtXX (talk) 02:16, 12 April 2019 (UTC)Reply
Yes - that one does, but there are plenty (listed below are just some...there are more) using it generically - they *don't* have it as a registered trade mark, and use it to describe the product. So it may only be registered as a trade mark in that particular country? In any case, whether it is a registered trade mark or not, in common usage, it is being used to describe the concept and its not referring to one particular brand.
