How to figure out if something is a proper noun...

<h3>Yes</h3>

<ul>
<li>if it's a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singleton_pattern">singleton</a> (i.e. there will only ever be one instance), then <i>definitely</i> yes  (the converse isn't true however)
    <ul>
    <li>country names are singletons, therefore are proper nouns
    <li>"adjective noun" doesn't count, it doesn't matter if it's a singleton (e.g. <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=site:en.wikipedia.org+northern-japan">northern Japan</a>).  However, if two words are actually a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compound_(linguistics)">compound noun</a> (eg. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America">North America</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Europe">Continental Europe</a>), then it's a proper noun.
        <ul>
        TODO: follow up on <a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Information_desk#proper_nouns">this question</a> in case anyone helps clarify this
        </ul>
    </ul>
<li>if it's a trademarked product name, even if there are many instances ("Big Mac", "Cherry Coke"), it's still a proper noun
    <!-- <ul>
    (some products really are functionally identical, such as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Calling">CD album</a>; others ("Big Mac") are intended to be as identical as possible)
    </ul> -->
<li>if it's a given name or surname, even if it doesn't unambiguously single someone out, it's still a proper noun  (e.g. <a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Mary">Mary</a>)
</ul>


<h3>No</h3>

<ul>
<li>if it describes a class of things, it's not a proper noun (e.g. <a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chess">chess</a>, <a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/backgammon">backgammon</a>)
    <ul>
    <li>this <i>does not</i> apply if it's a trademarked name (e.g. <a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Scrabble">Scrabble</a>, <a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Monopoly">Monopoly</a>)
    </ul>
</ul>


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<ul>
<li>if it's a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singleton_pattern">singleton</a> (i.e. will only ever have one instance), then YES
    <ul>
    <li>an "Oreo cookie" is technically a "cookie" made by the "organization Oreo", of which <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark">there can only be one</a>, so YES on "Oreo"
    <li>even for product-specific names, it's still YES  (e.g. <a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Big_Mac">Big Mac</a>, even though I personally have witnessed and ingested far more than just a single Big Mac)
        <ul>
        <li>on the other hand, a specific CD album (eg. "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Calling">London Calling</a>") is more clearly a singleton...  while many copies are made, they're all functionaly identical...  I guess Big Macs are intended to be as close to functionaly identical as possible
        </ul>
    </ul>
<li>if it describes instances of something, where every instance is intended to be identical, then NO (e.g. <a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chess">chess</a>...  most games are played under identical rules)
</ul>
-->