September 11, 2019
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On July 17, 2019, Ford Motor Company applied to register Badlands as a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The name will be used in conjunction with “land motor vehicles, namely, passenger automobiles, pick-up trucks, sport utility vehicles.”
In the past, Ford has launched special packages on its vehicles that cater to off-roaders who are looking for more performance than the factory models. These special packages were offered with the Ford F-150 Raptor as well as the recently-announced Ford Super Duty Tremor package. The Ford Badlands trademark application therefore hints at a similar package.
The Badlands trademark is not tied to a specific model, leading experts to surmise that it could be offered on multiple models. Had Ford been interested in associating the Badlands trademark with a specific vehicle, it would likely have filed for a more specific trademark by including the nameplate in the filing, as it did with the Bronco Scout earlier this month.
Interestingly, GM had previously filed a trademark for the same name in 2015, but never completed the registration process.
Authors: Sarah Stothart and Shadi Varkiani