Ford has filed a trademark application in the U.S. for the use of the Rattler name. According to documents submitted to the relevant authorities, the name could apply to “motor vehicles, namely, automobiles, pick-up trucks, electric vehicles, sport utility vehicles, off-road vehicles, and their structural parts”.
This aims very wide and of course opens up a world of possibilities. However, many of those possibilities can be eliminated right off the bat; it would be surprising to see an electric model named Rattler, for example.
Of course, trademarking a name doesn’t necessarily mean it will ever actually be used, so we shouldn’T get too carried away here. That didn’t stop the rumour mill from churning away after the application was filed on June 28. Its processing by the United States Patent and Trademark Office started yesterday.
Another reason not to get carried away: It will take several months before Ford gets an answer for its application.
As for the speculation flying about, one rumour posits that the Rattler name could serve a model focused on off-road driving, such as a version of the new Maverick compact pickup.
Motor1.com reached out to Ford to see if the automaker was willing to share any information about the application, and received the following corporate response: “Trademark applications are intended to protect new phrases, designs or symbols but aren’t necessarily an indication of new business or product plans”, explained spokesperson Dawn McKenzie, a company spokesperson.
While it will clearly be some time before we know more, it’s worth keeping the name in the back of our minds. A little voice is telling us it wasn't trademarked for nothing.