In short: Garmin's next full-fledged fitness smartwatch may be advertised as the "Marq," according to a trademark application reviewed by AndroidHeadlines. As is the case with the majority of the company's wearables aimed at athletes, the Garmin Marq will feature GPS capabilities and a wide variety of sensors, as well as the ability to relay notifications from Android and iOS smartphones, the documentation suggests. The American firm presumably went out of its way to specifically associate those technologies with the trademark as the term itself is relatively vague and may not be approved for IP protections otherwise.

Background: Garmin's latest wearables were announced last month in the form of the Vivosmart 4 line, a series of smart fitness bands with long battery life and an intuitive user interface. In terms of smartwatches, the manufacturer refreshed its flagship Fenix family with the Fenix 5 wearables (pictured above) this June. As the Marq is set to launch as an entirely new product lineup, Garmin will likely be looking to unveil it as part of a major industry happening, meaning the chances of it being introduced before the end of the year remain slim. The company traditionally has a major presence at Baselworld, the world's largest watch and jewelry trade show, with the next iteration of the event being the most likely launch vehicle for the Marq. Baselworld 2019 is running from March 21 through March 26. The Marq isn't expected to run Google's Wear OS and will presumably ship with a proprietary operating system, much like Garmin's other contemporary offerings.

Impact: The fact that Garmin has a completely new product lineup in the works suggests it's looking to diversify its portfolio in the near future, though it remains to be seen how the Marq will differ from its other creations and whether it will manage to capture a significant market share given how the global wearable market is presently stagnating.