In a recent statement, the US TV network CBS announced that they would be launching a new Star Trek show focussing on a “new chapter” in the life of Starfleet Captain, and living proof that we still won’t have cracked the cure for baldness by the 24th Century, Jean-Luc Picard.

The show will revisit the character around 20 years on from the events depicted in the somewhat underwhelming film Star Trek Nemesis and, in a truly great development, will feature Patrick Stewart returning to the role he first played in 1987.

This being a blog about IP means that I need to find some tenuous reason to write about Trek so I’ve taken a trawl through the trade mark filings on the USPTO website to see if there are any clues about the potential name for the new show.

The network CBS already has a Star Trek series on air (Star Trek Discovery which is gearing up for its second season). Discovery was first announced in November 2015 but the show wasn’t given a name in public until July 2016. This tallies with a trade mark filing on 22 July 2016 for the Word Mark “Star Trek: Discovery” (US trade mark 5347274).

So, does the USPTO website provide any potential clues for the name of the new show? The announcement about the new Picard show was made on 4 August 2018 and interestingly there are a number of new trade mark applications that have been filed from 3 August 2018 onward.

The marks “Star Trek: Reliant” and “Star Trek: Destiny”, with filing dates of 3 August 2018, were made in respect of “Entertainment services, namely, a continuing multimedia series featuring drama rendered through the media of television, cable, satellite and broadband systems, and via the Internet, and portable and wireless communication devices; Providing ongoing non-downloadable entertainment multimedia programs featuring drama via a video-on-demand services; providing information in the field of entertainment rendered via the Internet, and portable and wireless communication devices.”

Subsequently, further trade mark filings, in respect of the same services, have been made for “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy”, “Star Trek: Lower Decks” and “Star Trek: Ceti Alpha V”.

Within the context of Star Trek canon, the USS Reliant appeared in the film Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan” which featured the original cast. However, in the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation it is revealed that a then Ensign Jean-Luc Picard served on board a new USS Reliant under a Lieutenant (later Admiral) Nakamura. Perhaps the new show will feature a return to Picard’s first assignment?

“Lower Decks” was the title of an old Next Generation episode that featured a look at the lives of a number of junior crew members. Although there is a link here to Captain Picard, this doesn’t sound like it quite fits with a show following the further adventures of Jean-Luc.

Star Trek Starfleet Academy is rumoured to be another TV show that is in development.

The “Destiny” series of books features the return of the Borg and also Captain Picard. Maybe this also has the potential to be worked into the new show though it is noted that this book trilogy features a crossover of multiple characters from the different Trek TV shows and novels.

Ceti Alpha V is linked to the original TV and movie series starring William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy so this also doesn’t sound like it quite fits with the new show.

IPcopy will continue to watch the USPTO trade mark listings for more extremely tenuous reasons to write a Trek IP blog post……

Mark Richardson 31 August 2018

[There are also second entries for “Star Trek: Destiny”, “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy”, “Star Trek: Lower Decks” and “Star Trek: Ceti Alpha V” in respect of “Digital media, namely, pre-recorded digital video discs, digital versatile discs, DVDs, downloadable audio and video recordings, and high definition digital discs featuring drama; Downloadable entertainment programs featuring drama provided via a video-on-demand service”.]