General Motors has filed an application to register Riviera as a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), GM Authority was first to discover.
The automaker’s May 18th, 2016 application is assigned serial number 87041668 and specifies that the mark will be used for “Badges for vehicles”.
The GM Authority Take
We should first note that General Motors currently does not hold any trademark rights to the Riviera name with the USPTO. It did, however, file a trademark application for the term “Riviera” back in March of 2013. That filing, however, was categorized under the goods and services section of “Motor land vehicles, namely, automobiles”, whereas the one being described here is for “badges for vehicles”.
The March 2013 filing was filed slightly before the unveiling of the Buick Riviera Concept at the 2013 Shanghai Auto Show. However, GM will likely end up abandoning that March 2013 filing, since the automaker is running out of time (a total of three years) to file a Statement of Use — a necessary document in the trademark process that demonstrates to the USPTO that the mark being applied for will be used in a real-world product or service.
And so — as with other recent GM trademark filings, we will hypothesize that this particular one is either for a concept car or a future production-intent vehicle.
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Comments
Or replacement for Avista?
You beat me by seconds…..now just make sure it’s rwd and a available v8.
Could it be…the Avista I mean Riviera?
GM loves Riviera as concept car. If GM is going to recycle old names, why not Invicta! The original Tri-Shield represented Invicta, Electra and LaSabere–these storied names should be in use before GM wastes promotion on crap like Verano.
As I have said before often there is much more going on than what you know and things change faster than you think.
Buick has been telegraphing that they want a coupe. The Avista and Riviera both have shown intent be it in only major show car form.
The interest in the Avista may have gotten enough attention to help them make a business case for such a car.
Time will tell but please keep an open mind and please do not expect one of the show cars in your garage and even less likely with a V8 given Buicks heritage with the Turbo V6 and the future CAFE.
Not trying to piss on the parade here but you do have to keep the expectations real if this even gets a go. It may also just be another show car closer to a production model to help make a business case. Coupes are hard sells today and they have to make a good case to get it approved.
Keep in mind too that this could be for a whole other project like a higher end Lacrosse with a Riviera tag on it. So don’t get too set that this is a production coupe either.
This could even be the 4 door coupe style sedan they have been trying to sell too.
Keep an open mind here.
If the Avista or Riviera happens I doubt it would have a v8. That doesn’t change the fact that I would rather have a v8 though and at the very least people should voice their opinion on what they want.
OK – how about something that would sell?
Like a gull-wing CUV. Based on that styling. Maybe electric?
Actually, it’s what Cadillac should probably be doing, but they’re busy doing coffee and fashion.
Yeah, I know – Tesla’s version is almost ready for market. And it’s a little blasphemous that Buick’s flagship might end up being an SUV/CUV.
But the Rivi has been a (really good) concept car for, what – 7-8 years? And Buick still gives their vehicles names instead of letters and numbers.
So make it a coupe, or a 4-door, or a CUV or SUV. Electric, hybrid or fossil fuel. But just make it.
It’s like watching the Avista, or the Avenir fall by the wayside. And variations of the Riviera have been kicking around for almost a decade…
It’s disappointing to see GM shelve their best ideas, although I can see how a Riviera CUV (hybrid or electric) would step on Cadillac’s toes. Which gets back to the need for a (non-crazy, Ewanick-like) CMO to keep brands from eating themselves and each other. (Like the Verano, sucking sales away from Regal, and messed up both. Or GMC Yukon Denali and Escalade competing for the same audience).
At least GMC doesn’t have a coffee shop. Yet, anyway.
Hey Scott – “things change faster than you think?”
You sing a completely different song when you’re talking about Cadillac…
So this fast/slow thing is a marque-by-marque thing, I guess …
Keep an open mind. And an open checkbook.
It’d be cool to have this sharing the alpha with the Camaro. But it would probably be not worth the effort.
Using Alpha fits what was common GM logic where as Camaro always had a Pontiac cousin. With Pontiac dead, it would only be logical for Buick to take advantage of the hard work already done on ATS Coupe and Camaro and offer it via Avista’s sophisticated form.
I’m still surprised that Buick hasn’t gotten a RWD offering based off of CTS. nj
That is fine but you also have to let others express reality.
Just keeping it real and honest vs planting false hope in some.
If this car is done it will be something different than the CTS and Camaro.
GM out side some really high volume models is resisting to do cars that are similar to sister brands. As time goes on even the Trucks will become more different.
The last you you want are two similar coupes delutiing sales in a segment that already is a challenge to sell cars in.
Even the Alpha ATS coupe and Camaro only have a small part of their engineering identical.
Well that’s what I was getting at, but I don’t see it happening because of the R&D into making one. If anything you think Buick would take advantage of Zeta but again. I thought the SS would do amazing here and it hasn’t.
This tells you of the potential of another Chinese import.. as Buick of China showed a Riviera concept car at the 2013 Shanghai show back in 2013.
Do not be mislead because the Riv was designed in China. They are even more anti coupe than our own market. That has been one of the problems as GM can no make up volume there.
Now with Buick working with Opel and Holden that could help give them the volume they need to make a case to GM on this. Holden would love to have a coupe and it could sell like here in limited numbers but in total volume to make it worth while.
The Opel based convertible is only a 2-3 year car and they have not said what would replace it but I suspect something based on the coming Regal replacement I hate to say.
The Buick convertible now needs replaces as it is an older Opel model. A new slightly larger model could help all three markets and still sell in small numbers in China.
Since it’s Buick, I really wouldn’t mind an E2XX-based coupe. Especially if it has the GKN AWD tuned for a rear bias.
That is a real possibility too.
If they could do it to an Audi like level it would have real global appeal.
Also it would need a rear seat someone over 5/6 could sit in comfortably.
I wouldn’t make an Audi comparison yet. Audi is all about Quattro especially since the 90’s when they mounted the engines north-south and gave it a permanent 40/60 rear biased torque split.
I think they can do it better than Volvo, but not as good as Audi. In fact, Buick would beat Volvo, Lincoln, and Acura to the punch by introducing a modern personal luxury coupe. Not sure why Acura hasn’t done it yet. The Accord coupe is ripe for an Acura sibling.
rwd+v8 option or gtfo
I would have thought GM owned the RIviera name by now . That nameplate has such a cult following I don’t see Buick using that name for anything but a 2 door luxury car . Putting that name on a sedan makes no sense to me .
The Avista was such a hit at the auto show circuit this winter that Buick just may have made a business case to GM that this could be their halo car . The 2-door coupe is made by the likes of Lexus and others so it just might be the right time for Buick to re-invent the Riviera . Sometimes you need to take a chance , Buick deserves this .
I want an Eldorado
I would tend to think that scott3 is more in tune with the real goings on than a lot of the rest here. There is hope through all of this that our wishes in some more realistic form will be realized here.
What is the targeted delivery date for Buick customers ? AWD or both Rear / AWD ?