Aston Martin Trademark Has A Wild History: From Star Wars To Spyker

Way back in 2013, Dutch supercar manufacturer Spyker filed a trademark application with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EU IPO) for the word “Venator.” The filing was approved, and Spyker held the trademark until March 4th. The automaker never did anything with it, and it was perhaps reserved for a future model before the brand declared bankruptcy in December 2014. But just yesterday, on March 22, Aston Martin filed to retain the trademark on Venator for itself. Why isn’t exactly clear, but the name has some history elsewhere too.

Star Wars fans might also know this as the name of the Star Destroyers used in a handful of the prequel movies and TV shows. Interestingly, there doesn’t appear to be any conflict with what is surely an existing trademark on the word held by Disney or another Star Wars-adjacent company, like Lucasfilm. This use of the name probably isn’t what Aston was going for. Instead, Aston Martin likely wants the trademark due to the name’s Latin meaning, hunter, which sounds exactly like the kind of kitschy-Brit-cool name for either a car or a Bondian villain’s invention.

On a purely speculative level, Venator sounds like a name for a follow-up to the Valour, Aston’s hyper-exclusive manual transmission V12 supercar. The Valour was itself preceded by another V12, manual Aston Martin, the Victor. One more Aston with a V-name, a V-12, and a manual doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Unfortunately, the filing offers no specifics, only that the name may be used as it applies to automobiles.

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