Some interesting news bubbled up last week, followed in short order by what I think can be safely dismissed now as wild speculation. And all of it concerned three trademark filings for Ultima submitted by EA: a class 009 trademark, a class 028 trademark, and a class 041 trademark. For a bit of an explainer as to what all of that means, we can turn to The Phrasemaker, who broke the story originally:

There are two fresh trademarks for Ultima this week, one filed under “Class 041″ and the other under “Class 009″. What does this mean? Well, Class 041 protects Ultima as an “online computer game“, while Class 009 encompasses “downloadable video games“.

That’s the reason this isn’t a standard renewal; They’re protecting more than last time, and more than they need to. Basically, they’ve updated the filing to protect the IP in the modern gaming landscape. So does this mean they’re planning to bring out an online Ultima?

Well, Ultima’s other trademark in Class 028 (toys, games, and playthings) has been updated over time, yet it still has the filing date of August 30, 1985.

However, the 041 and 009? They’re completely new. EA has gone out of its way to file new trademarks for an IP with no mainline games since 1999 (and last seen with a quick-dying iOS game in 2013).

Now, at the end of the article, The Phrasemaker does note that this could be a case of EA renewing the original Ultima trademark in its own name (since it was initially filed by Origin Systems, and was coming up for expiry in short order) as well as strengthening its hold on the name across other applicable categories. Basically, it could just be IP portfolio housekeeping, rather than a signal that they intend to do anything new with Ultima.

That didn’t stop at least one YouTube channel from speculating that Richard Garriott was on the cusp of re-acquiring the IP for his own use, however. I wouldn’t personally put much credence into that speculation, especially because Richard Garriott himself — at least as of the time I’m writing this — hasn’t said anything on his social profiles about any such move.