Lexus Files Trademarks for RC 300 & IS 300 in USA

Posted by Kevin on June 8th, 2015

The Kaizen Factor weblog has been digging deep into Toyota trademarks in the USA, and in the process made an unexpected discovery — Lexus has recently filed applications for both the IS 300 and the RC 300.

This is significant due to the missing h signifier, meaning these trademarks are not just to cover the possibility of Lexus USA importing the IS 300h and RC 300h currently available in other parts of the world.

Joaquin Ruhi at Kaizen Factor believes the new 300 designation could be the 3.0L V6 engine from the 2006 GS 300 updated to the dual Atkinson-to-Otto cycle and electric VVT-iE:

Performance figures for the new [engine] are anybody’s guess at this point, but if we note that the dual cycle + VVTiE enhancements to the 2UR-GSE 5-liter V8 produced a gain of 51 hp and 18 lb/ft of torque, applying those figures to the old 3GR-FSE 3-liter V6’s numbers bring us to 303 hp and 249 lb/ft of torque.

Should the calculations prove correct, this new engine would duplicate the horsepower in the current 3.5L V6 in the IS 350, and sideways moves are not what Lexus needs to do right now. Instead, I would expect the potential RC 300 & IS 300 to show a mild performance boost.

It all makes for a fun discussion, what do you think?

(As for the particulars — the RC 300 trademark number 86429787 was filed on October 14th, 2014 and the IS 300 trademark number 86593239 was filed on April 10th, 2015.)

Source: Kaizen Factor

Lexus IS: Third GenerationLexus RC: First GenerationRumors
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Comments
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    Adrian de Leon
  • June 8, 2015
If there was a "t" after the 300 it would give us a better idea on what kind of engine it could be. Maybe the IS and RC will be IS/RC 200t and IS/RC 300(t)??? With a 300 producing more power and fuel efficiency than the current 3.5L V6. Lexus could be showing a new class of engines through the next upcoming months and years. So we never know, but its a good sign of the future for lexus.
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    Izzam@RegencyAuto
  • June 8, 2015
When the NX300h was trademarked in USA what was it registered as? I really hope it's a IS 300h and RC 300h in Canada. Then a power boost in the RC 350 and IS 350... Wishful thinking?
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    LexusTechSA
  • June 8, 2015
Maybe a more powerful version of the 200t motor?
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    Joaquin Ruhi
  • June 8, 2015
Thanks to Atkinson-to-Otto dual cycle functionality plus VVT-iE, a renewed 3-liter GR V6 can most likely exceed the current 3.5-liter GR V6 in every way, performance and fuel economy. The passage that Krew highlighted in his article omits the end of that paragraph: "Let’s not be needlessly pessimistic, though, as this (the numbers cited above) may be mitigated by the extra gear ratios on today’s automatic transmissions and possible greater-than-noted performance gains from the dual cycle + VVTiE enhancements (it is widely believed that the newer 2UR-GSE 5-liter V8’s true performance potential was curtailed by the decision to avoid the U.S. EPA gas guzzler tax, whereas a 3-liter V6 has more leeway in that regard)". In other words, I personally believe that the true potential performance gains in version 2 of the 2UR-GSE 5-liter V8 were deliberately held back by an overriding need to avoid the gas guzzler tax. Starting with a smaller and inherently more fuel-economical V6, Lexus engineers could probably squeeze out a higher percentage gain in performance and fuel economy numbers alike. To what extent? That's the $64,000 question that remains to be answered...
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    Joaquin Ruhi
  • June 8, 2015
Toyota/Lexus registered the NX trademarks in the USA and Canada with the complete 200t and 300h suffixes attached, as I noted in this article from 2012: http://kaizen-factor.com/lexus-trademarks-nx-200t-and-nx-300h/ The company is very inconsistent in that regard. Sometimes they'll only trademark the first two letters without any numbers (such as VX or the initial JX filing). Other times, they'll go in the other direction and trademark the letters with 3 or 4 different numbers but only produce one and let the others die. (the end of my article cites a few examples). Believe me, I checked and there were no 300h U.S. trademarks for IS, GS or RC. I didn't check the Canadian equivalent of the U.S. Patent and Trademark office, but as far as powertrains go, the U.S. and Canadian markets usually march in lockstep.
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    Hemi
  • June 8, 2015
Hard to say regarding the US market. Nevertheless, Lexus has been critized for its low variety of engines especially in European market. They might introduce new engine options to the US market and if it will fulfill the upcoming EU emission restrictions it could be used later in Europe as well to increase a revenue.
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    corradoMR2
  • June 8, 2015
Exactly my thoughts. Lexus may be heading in the same direction as MB and BMW are by bumping up the number. RC/ IS 300 could be fitted with the 2L Turbo four.

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