Ford Motor Company has filed an application to register Kuga as a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Ford Authority has discovered.
The automaker’s February 15th, 2016 application is assigned serial number 86907730 and specifies that the mark will be used as follows:
Land motor vehicles, namely, automobiles and their structural parts and engines; exterior insignia badges for vehicles; vehicle rooftop carriers; fitted motor vehicle covers; bug deflectors for motor vehicles; mud flaps for motor vehicles; trailer hitch receiver plugs for motor vehicles; sunshades and license plate frames for motor vehicles.
The Ford Authority Take
Well, this is highly interesting. Kuga is the name of the Ford Escape in several markets around the world, mostly in Europe and Australia, which makes the filing for the name with the United States office all the more intriguing. We’re of three thoughts on this:
- Ford could be planning to replace the Escape name in the United States and Canada with Kuga. This is highly in our collective opinion since the Escape name is well-regarded and quite popular in the region. If not that, then…
- Ford could be planning to introduce a new vehicle, perhaps the subcompact EcoSport, with the Kuga name in the United States, or…
- Ford could be filing this trademark with the USPTO for some obscure legal reason. We don’t see the value of doing so, however, since the USPTO requires trademark applicants to prove how they will use the trademark being applied for in a real-world product or service. So unless Ford is bringing a vehicle with the Kuga name to the U.S., it won’t be able to complete this trademark registration.
Stay tuned to Ford Authority as we follow this story, as well as for all kinds of other Ford news.
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