On May 28, Toyota filed a trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the name “Toyota S-FR” as a “standard character mark.” The trademark covers “automobiles and structural parts thereof,” and while only Toyota really knows the true intentions of this trademark, that isn’t stopping any speculation that this could be the name of the planned successor to the Toyota Supra.

That being said, it seems highly unlikely that Toyota would want to introduce a new model with a name so similar to an existing model: the Scion FR-S. Not only would the two models be in different brands in the same showrooms, but they could very well be targeting similar buyers looking for sporty coupes.

One likely alternative could simply be that this trademarked name is an insurance policy to ensure that another company doesn’t try to cash in on the FR-S name. Looking at Toyota’s recent trademark history, it has also filed similar applications for the names “Toyota FT” and “Toyota FV,” but these names have since been abandoned.

Even if Toyota isn’t planning to apply the Supra name to its upcoming (possibly planned for a 2017 debut) rear-wheel-drive sports coupe, I could only hope that the automaker could come up with something a little more original for this high-performance halo car.

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