General Motors just applied to renew its Pontiac trademark, and on the surface, it’s tempting for us and all of our Coors-swilling uncles to assume there’s a secret plan to resurrect the beloved brand. Still, don’t get your hopes up: Pontiac likely isn’t coming back in the near future, or even in the distant future. The trademark filing simply doesn’t mean much.
The application was filed on April 25, 2025, and it applies to “hubcaps for vehicles, horns for vehicles, license plate frames, and novelty license plate frames.” This is another way of saying the name can end up on various car parts. The application hasn’t been approved yet—it’s still awaiting examination—but General Motors has owned it since 2005. It’s going to be approved.
Car companies routinely file trademarks to ensure that a brand name, a model name, or even a logo doesn’t end up in a competitor’s hands. Just ask Nissan. By renewing the Pontiac trademark, General Motors is essentially making sure that, say, Dodge doesn’t end up using the name on a trim level. Would that happen? Probably not, but it’s better to play it safe. And, by owning the trademark, General Motors is making sure it can continue to sell that sweet, sweet Pontiac-branded memorabilia despite the brand shuttering in 2010.
Imagine if General Motors let the trademark expire. Pontiac is dead, after all, and it’s not coming back. Why waste the legal team’s time with a new trademark application? Granted, assuming that Dodge would launch a Charger Pontiac is a little far-fetched, but what if I spotted the expired trademark and claimed it? If my application were approved, I could sue General Motors if it ever sold anything Pontiac-branded.
I can hear you from here: “But, the Hummer EV!” Surely, General Motors must have trademarked the Hummer name before assigning the EV to GMC, and in that case the filing accurately revealed a future product. It sometimes happens: Subaru trademarked a bunch of Wilderness names in 2024 and we’ve seen a few hit the market since. Ford’s Mustang Dark Horse trademark previewed a new model as well.
But for every accurate trademark filing, there are dozens that amount to nothing. Lexus LFR? Sadly, no. Subaru STe? Nope. Make a red X next to the Ford F-200, Ford Excursion, Ram Dakota, Toyota Celica, Volkswagen E-Thing, and Rolls-Royce Silent Shadow. Sure, the Celica is allegedly making a comeback, but we’ve heard these rumors for so long that the old trademark filing was probably unrelated to the project.
Last but not least, why would General Motors go through the trouble of resurrecting Pontiac? Doing that would require investing a massive amount of money into a product range. At this stage, the brand would have to be rebuilt from the ground up. Nothing suggests that General Motors wants to add a new brand to its portfolio. It was leaner than ever when it emerged from bankruptcy, and it almost definitely wants to stay that way. It rolled the short-lived BrightDrop brand into Chevrolet, and it closed the Cruise division it founded to develop autonomous driving tech.
There’s probably more equity left in the Pontiac name than in the Saturn name, but the high-octane, V8-powered performance that the company is known for isn’t coming back, either. Does the world really need a Pontiac-branded version of the Blazer EV? Probably not.
So, don’t hold your breath for a 2027 Pontiac e-GTO crossover. You’re in luck if you want a Pontiac-branded license plate frame, though.
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