Ford trademarks Detroit train station names

Nora Naughton
The Detroit News
Thousands of people attended Ford Motor Company's announcement about the Michigan Central Train Depot in Detroit on Tuesday.

Ford Motor Co. has filed to trademark a variety of names for the Michigan Central Depot it just purchased in Corktown, reserving the train station name for possible use on everything from coloring books and hockey pucks, to smartphone apps and software for ride-sharing and navigation.

The names "Detroit's Michigan Central Station," "Michigan Train Station" and "Michigan Central Station" were filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on June 11, a week before the carmaker threw its party celebrating the purchase of the towering vacant building that had become a symbol of the city's decline.

All three filings cover the same uses, including smartphone applications, real estate services and online services "providing data and information regarding mobile activities."

Among the "mobile activities" listed in the filings are ride sharing, car sharing, travel by autonomous vehicle, route planning, and parking garage and parking lot services.

Sources have told The Detroit News that Ford is considering building a parking deck in Corktown on empty land near the former Tiger Stadium. The potential gesture of good will could be available to more than the Ford workers based at Michigan Central Depot and other Corktown buildings recently acquired by the automaker.

Ford envisions a sweeping restoration of the train station by 2022. The Dearborn-based automaker is also assembling a sprawling campus in the surrounding Corktown neighborhood with plans to bring 5,000 employees into the city to focus on developing self-driving and electric vehicles.

nnaughton@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @NoraNaughton