Memory Alpha is a collaborative project to create the most definitive, accurate, and accessible encyclopedia and reference for everything related to Star Trek. The English-language Memory Alpha started in November 2003, and currently consists of 59,971 articles and 66,483 files. If this is your first visit, please read an introduction to Memory Alpha.

---

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Warning: Memory Alpha contains spoilers!

• Upcoming productions
• Where to watch

Today is

Saturday

30

Nov 2024

Recent events
	11 November 2024 Julien's Auctions' recent auction of Star Trek memorabilia, "Bid Long and Prosper", has netted $3.6 million. [1] [2]
	9 October 2024 The USS Enterprise-D bridge set from Star Trek: Picard will be on display at Universal Studios Hollywood's "Fan Fest Nights" in the spring of 2025. [3]
	30 September 2024 Theme park Nickolodeon Land will open "The Land of Legends" in Antalya, Turkey in January 2025, including Star Trek: Wild Galaxy 5D, a ride based on Star Trek: Prodigy, and Star Trek-themed hotel rooms. [4]

Upcoming productions
	18 July 2024 Karim Diané and Zoë Steiner have been added to the cast of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy as cadets. [5]
	9 July 2024 Kerrice Brooks, George Hawkins and Bella Shepard have been added to the cast of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy as cadets. [6]
	1 July 2024 All twenty episodes of Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 debut on Netflix. [7]

Awards
	17 July 2024 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' "Hegemony" and Star Trek: Lower Decks's "The Inner Fight" are nominated for Emmy Awards in "Outstanding Sound Editing". [8]
	16 July 2024 Star Trek: Prodigy and Star Trek: Lower Decks have both won in the inaugural Collision Awards. [9]
	14 July 2024 Several Star Trek stories have been nominated for Scribe Awards: The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko, by Derek Tyler Attico and Firewall, by David Mack, for "Best Novel – Original (Speculative Fiction)"; and "Lost and Founder", by David Mack, and "Work Worth Doing", by Keith R.A. DeCandido (both published in Star Trek Explorer), for "Short Story". (citation needed • edit)

Memory Alpha news
	31 May 2024 The Trek Files: A Roddenberry Star Trek Podcast officially announced its partnership with Memory Alpha. [10]
	27 May 2024 User:Renegade54 created Memory Alpha's 57,000th article: "Children Of Time" (podcast), an episode of Mission Log: A Roddenberry Star Trek Podcast. [11]
	22 May 2024 User:Mr. Starfleet Command joined Memory Alpha's team of administrators after a successful nomination. [12]

Deaths
	6 November 2024 Tony Todd, who played Kurn in Star Trek: The Next Generation, at 69. [13]
	29 October 2024 Terri Garr, who played Roberta Lincoln in TOS: "Assignment: Earth", at 79. [14]
	24 October 2024 Jeri Taylor, who wrote episodes for Star Trek: The Next Generation and was a showrunner for Star Trek: Voyager, at 86. [15]

• Upcoming episodes/films
• Upcoming merchandise
• Today in Trek history

• edit

Featured article

Detail of an Issued Design Patent

Design patents are a type of patent issued under United States of America law. (Other locations have similar protections but they are called different things.) The patent is granted based on the unique appearance or concept of an item rather than its "usefulness". Design patents typically are sought for items where the appearance is as - or more - important than the underlying craftsmanship itself. So, things like jewelry, toys, furniture, car parts, etc. are frequently granted design patents.

Design patents have a life in the US of fourteen years from the date of issuance. Their main usefulness is as a supplement to copyright protections. Whereas someone claiming a copyright in a work can prevent actual copies being made, a design patent can more easily be used to prevent the unauthorized creation of similar items which are not actually copies. Neither protection is absolute, but some counsel believe that having both is important where even the hint of similar design is a threat to the value of the original design.

From 1978 through 1987, Paramount Pictures sought and obtained various design patents for Star Trek designs. There seem to have been no other filings after 1987, and Paramount's legal department instead probably feels comfortable with existing copyright protections.

In each instance of a design patent at least one "inventor" has to be listed. The inventor can never be the corporation, it has to be an individual or individuals. It is sometimes interesting to see who gets credit for what on the official documents.

Memory Alpha portals

• All Pages
• All Categories
• All Files

Picture of the Day

The USS Discovery makes contact with the USS Enterprise.
The USS Discovery makes contact with the USS Enterprise. (DIS: "Will You Take My Hand?")

Related wikis

Memory Beta	Star Trek Online Wiki	The Klingon Dictionary	Star Trek Expanded Universe
Star Trek wiki for licensed products	Wiki for the MMORPG	Klingonese wiki based dictionary	Star Trek wiki for fan productions

Memory Alpha is not and does not claim to be endorsed by, sponsored by, or affiliated with Paramount Global or the Star Trek franchise.

The Star Trek trademarks, logos, and related names are owned by Paramount Global. They are used under fair use guidelines.

The user-created content of this site is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license.

See Memory Alpha: Copyrights for more information.