According to a report published by TV Web, Netflix beat the Trump administration when it came to trademarking the name Space Force. Funnily enough, the title of the streamer’s latest sitcom coincides with a special branch of the U.S. army that POTUS teased some time ago. If or how this dispute will be settled, however, remains to be seen.
As the outlet points out, Donald Trump was technically the first to mention the Space Force name back in March 2018. That was almost a year before Netflix greenlit their sitcom, a decision which took place in January 2019. Yet another year later, the US government had established Space Force as an official branch of their bureaucracy, while their trademark application was still pending.
But even though the Trump administration was the first to file for a trademark, they were not the ones who ultimately received it. For reasons currently unknown, Netflix managed to get a hold of the rights to this most-wanted name, one which they’ll be able to exercise in a court of law on grounds that the US legal system maintains a “first-to-use” rule.
Whether Netflix will get much out of this victory, however, remains to be seen. Where the streamer had hoped for the Steve Carell-starring series to become the next version of the critically acclaimed and commercially successful sitcom The Office, their high expectations were not met. While Space Force remains among Netflix’s most-watched shows, many believe it’s a question of time before it’ll sink into oblivion.
Donald Trump has seen better days, too. After receiving international criticism for his inability to check the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, as well as his repeated promulgation of unsound medical advice, the president hopped from the frying pan into the fire when he took the side of law enforcement during a wave of anti-police brutality and pro-civil rights protests.