Some brand or product names are so iconic that the very company name is used to (often erroneously) refer to the product itself. Common names like Velcro (Velcro is a company's name, the product is 'hook and loop' fastener), Kleenex (Kleenex is a specific brand name, the actual name of the product is a facial tissue), etc. etc. One such brand is Formica, which in the US is usually used to refer to any laminate (plastic) countertop material, also has an interesting history. While Formica gained rapid fame and widespread use after WW II in the US, the company was actually formed by two men back in 1913, long before the countertop product was thought of. The original product was actually cloth that was covered in resin and then cured to make a thin, light and excellent electrical insulator. In fact, it was originally invented for, and used as an electrical insulator, specifically as a man- made replacement for mica. And there is the key to the company's name.... a company that made a material meant as a substitute for mica. The stuff's insulating properties have not been used for many years and its actual origins generally forgotten but the original intent lives on in its name: Formica.
Brian