Over the years, the smartphone market segment continued to accommodate an increasing number of large-screen handsets, and in late-2014, even Apple was forced to move from a 4-inch form factor to a larger 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch panel with the launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. More recently, however, the Cupertino-based giant went back to its old ways and took the veil off the new iPhone SE – a 4-inch smartphone that borrows its exterior design from the iPhone 5 series. In any case, the reason why this introduction revolves mainly around Apple’s products, specifically the 4-inch iPhone SE, is because of LG and one of its recently trademarked monikers. As it turns out, the Korean company recently filed for trademarking the “G5 SE” moniker and followed up with trademarking the “LG G5 SE” brand too.
The LG G5 is the latest flagship phone to come out of the Korean tech giant’s factory gates, and so far it looks like the aforementioned device has enjoyed a positive release in its homeland. Nevertheless, with a 5.3-inch display the LG G5 is pretty much a standardly sized Android smartphone, and it’s also the company’s smallest top-tier handset released so far in 2016. Needless to say, since Apple made the switch to a large-screen form factor for its iPhone series, the smartphone market hasn’t really been too generous in accommodating small-screen flagships. For iOS users, this changed with the release of the iPhone SE, but as far as Android enthusiasts go, they don’t really have a lot of high-end compact alternatives to choose from. Intriguingly enough, however, LG has apparently trademarked the “G5 SE” moniker in February, and more recently it also reserved its rights for using the “LG G5 SE” brand. This could suggest that LG is planning on releasing an LG G5 variant with a smaller screen, and a direct competitor for the iPhone SE.
On the other hand, trademarking a name doesn’t guarantee the existence of a commercially-available product. Companies have a tendency to trademark a lot of brands for legal purposes or various other reasons, but from trademarking a name to releasing an actual product wearing the said moniker is a long way to go. At the end of the day, it can be fun to explore the possibility of a compact LG G5 variant being in the works, but until more details emerge – if any – the story can go either way.