Kiss have sparked retirement speculation after it was revealed they had launched an attempt to trademark the phrase “The End of the Road.”

As seen below, the United States Patent and Trademark Office received an application for the word mark on February 8. If successful, would mean only Kiss could use it in connection with “live performances by a musical band.”

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The band have not confirmed any farewell tour plans, nor commented on this trademark attempt.

Kiss staged a farewell tour in 2000 after frontman Paul Stanley and bassist Gene Simmons ran out of patience with guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss. Stanley said in his 2014 book Face The Music: A Life Exposed: “I was angry at Peter and Ace for being disrespectful toward everything we had accomplished and everything the fans were giving us. I bought into the idea that this really was it. The end of Kiss. There was no place to go.” That situation was resolved when Stanley and Simmons created a new lineup featuring guitarist Tommy Thayer and returning non-makeup era drummer Eric Singer to continue.

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Both leading members have previously discussed the possibility of Kiss continuing into a new generation without any of the founders aboard. Last month Stanley said: “The thought of me not being involved certainly comes to mind. I’m not sure about the idea of Kiss coming to an end. We've built something that's so iconic, and I think it transcends any of the members so I can certainly see me not being there, seriously.” He said of his reasons for wanting to bow out: “I don't want to go leave home. I have a family and I have children and, honestly, I think my primary responsibility is to be a dad, and I don't want to miss out on that. And certainly, as we got older, we know that life is finite and I pick and choose what I want to do at this point.”

In 2017 Simmons said the band had "a few more years" to go, but added: “[W]e're not gonna be able to do it into our 70s, and I'm 67 now. We'll do it for a few more years, and then when we think it's time to go, we'll go, and we'll do it the right way, with a big party. I'd like to think that we would do something that rocks the planet — something big and worldwide and maybe free.”

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