4 days ago
13
Two of Australia’s largest car makers could be on a collision course after Toyota re-applied for a trademark two decades after it was blocked by Hyundai – but the application is not expected to get far off the ground.
A trademark clash between Toyota and Hyundai tracing back more than 20 years that gave the Kluger – the country’s most popular seven-seater – its name has been revived.
The Japanese car giant last month filed a trademark application for the ‘Highlander’ name in Australia, a badge Hyundai has held the rights to locally since December 1999.
Highlander is the overseas name for the Toyota seven-seat SUV launched locally in 2003 as the Kluger, and a representative for the Japanese firm said the fresh trademark filed last month forms "part of Toyota’s global IP protection program".
However, Hyundai registered the badge four years earlier – and five months before the Toyota Highlander was unveiled – first applying it to the flagship variant of the Terracan SUV in late 2001, the predecessor to the modern Palisade.
It is not expected to impact Australian consumers as the Highlander trademark is likely to be denied before it can be approved, given it is effectively identical to Hyundai's registration.
This can occur without the need for Hyundai to formally file an opposition to the trademark.
Toyota's application has not yet been examined by Australian intellectual property officials, but this is due to occur imminently, with a report to be published by 30 January 2025.
A Toyota Australia spokesperson told Drive the brand "has no plans to use the name 'Highlander' locally." Hyundai Australia declined to comment when contacted.
The clash reprises a saga last laid to rest two decades ago, when Toyota last attempted to trademark the Highlander name in July 2003, shortly before the local introduction of the model.
But it did not last long, and was forced to withdraw its application in February 2004.
While the Highlander name is used on the Toyota SUV in North America – as well as other key global markets – the Kluger name was settled on locally, reportedly derived from 'klug', a German word meaning 'intelligent'.
It is unclear why Toyota elected to file a new trademark for the Highlander name when it is still in active use by Hyundai, and the South Korean brand has not withdrawn its ownership of the badge.
Over the past 12 months, Hyundai has scaled back its use of the Highlander badge on top-of-the-range SUV variants, replacing it with globally-used Premium or Calligraphy nomenclature on the Kona, Tucson, Santa Fe and Palisade.
But it remains in place on one model, the Staria people mover.
It is yet to be seen if the Staria bucks the range-wide trend and holds onto the Highlander name – even if a Calligraphy grade is introduced overseas – to ensure Toyota cannot make a claim for the nameplate.
"It tends to be the case with our larger SUVs that the highest trim is designated Calligraphy now," Hyundai Australia product planner Sam Dabestani told Drive in July 2024 at the local launch of the updated Tucson, the latest model to ditch the Highlander name.
"In the case of Tucson mid-size SUV, [it is] Premium, same with Kona ... We're aligning with the global nomenclature."
Asked if Hyundai moving away from the name could allow Toyota to claim it, Dabestani said: "We don't make suggestions to comment on competitor activities or strategy.
"I suppose that would be something for Toyota to look into."
Highlander is far from the first global model name that cannot be used by a car maker in Australia because it is owned by another manufacturer.
Ford Australia was unable to retain the Edge name from the US for its five-seat large SUV introduced locally in 2018 – as Toyota holds the rights to the Edge badge locally, currently applying it to the top-of-the-range RAV4 – requiring the use of Endura instead.
In fact, Toyota renewed its Edge trademark prior to the Endura's arrival to make sure it could not be used by its long-time foe.
As reported by Drive in November 2022, the Blue Oval was also forced to withdraw a three-month-old trademark application for Ranger Thunder locally, as the name is already used by Mazda on its accessorised BT-50 Thunder ute.
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family.
