xerox introduced the fist plain-paper office copier more than 50 year ago. in the decades that followed, the company that invented photocopying flat-out dominated the industry it had created. the name xerox became almost generic for copying (as in i'll xerox this for you)through the years, xerox fought off round after round of rivals to stay atop the fiercely competitive copier industry through the late 1990s, xerox's profits and stock prince were soaring