Sony has published five new trademarks that secure the company names for up to five generations of potential PlayStation consoles.

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The trademarks, initially filed for earlier this month, provide Sony with exclusive use of the terms PS6, PS7, PS8, PS9, and PS10. The publishing of these trademarks was picked up by trademark blogger Piercesword , as discovered by Gematsu This is not an uncommon approach for Sony. PS2 and PS3 trademarks were filed a year in advance of each console’s release, while trademarks for the PS4 and PS5 were filed back in 2006.It should be noted that these trademarks don’t indicate that Sony is definitely planning to make these consoles. Rather, it makes sense for the company to own the trademarks to consoles it potentially may make in the future in order to prevent other businesses snapping up the PS branding before Sony does. So even if PlayStation 6 is never made, the trademark is still safe and can’t be used by anyone else to capitalise on a brand Sony has spent over two decades building.Looking at Sony’s more immediate plans, we know that the PS5 has some pretty exciting tech inside it , and that it will be capable of things like Ray Tracing . Quite what a hypothetical PS6 could have powering it is anyone’s guess right now.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. You can follow him on Twitter