Some people read tea leaves, others look to the planets – however you do it, predicting the future is a perilous business. But by looking at what trademarks companies and people are filing around the world, we can at least with some certainty make educated guesses about what is coming up.
Recently the trademark seers are curious about some moves that the car brand Audi might be coming up with. In their home market of Germany and in the US, they have filed trademark applications for some new versions of their iconic 4-circle logos.
The current logo which they put on close to 600,000 cars per year and have been using since 1932. Fun fact, the 4 rings represents 4 companies that merged in 1932 to form a company called Auto Union AG, Chemnitz. Check out Wikipedia for more Audi corporate history.
So it seems like after all these years, the company might be considering making a change or a range extension of some sort. The two new trademarks they have filed are variations of their current logo. One is the outside perimeter of the current logo and the other are two interconnected center circles.
QuattroWorld.com, a blog that specializes in covering Audi, speculates that the new logos may be related to with the Audi’s car-to-car communication or their electrification plans. Logos are often evolving as companies are changing their emphases, re-connecting with customers or evolve with changing aesthetics. So as Audi embraces new technologies, such as autonomous vehicles, electrification, and connected cars, a new logo could make sense. The big question is, will they roll this out for the whole company, or to be used for some more specific sub-brand or product?
We have written before about trademarks as being the source of competitive intelligence, such as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos filing for trademark classes related to prepared food kits. By looking at trademark database, we can see the future trademark strategies of companies.
Isn’t it exciting to peak into the future?