Google Files Trademark Application for an Operating System Called Pigweed: Report

Google is not a stranger to operating systems and it now seems to be adding another one to its arsenal. It follows the company's previous operating systems including Android, Chrome OS, and Fuchsia. The company has filed a new US trademark application with USPTO under “computer operating software” for the name “Pigweed”. The folks at 9to5Google has also found some details about the new OS.

First addressing the elephant in the room, what is Pigweed?

It is a plant in the amaranth family that grows on the surface with stems coming out to the tips. These plants are not only edible but quite nutritious. Some fully grown pigweeds dry out and after they are fully grown and become tumbleweeds.

9to5Google dug into the code for Google's latest Fuchsia OS and found that back in November, there was a proposed code change that had a direct reference to the term “pigweed”. Google was quick on its feet and switched it back to “fuchsia”. This is not a concrete piece of evidence that shows Fuchsia and Pigweed are related.

Another reference that the website found was in Google's Chromium code repository. The reference was present in the code related to the issue tracker called “Monorail”. This tells us that Pigweed has its own dedicated Gerrit code review and Monorail bug tracker. The pigweed trademark application was first spotted by redditor lgats.

We cannot say for sure when this new OS will be made public as Google has been quite inconsistent in trademarking a name and releasing the product. In 2007, when Google unveiled Android, the name “Android” was trademarked just five days before the event. On the other hand, “Fuchsia” was trademarked around two years ago but is still not official.