This rumor consists of two parts – the first part is coming from RetroCamera who recently reported that Zeiss will bring back to life the Biotar 1.5/75 lens:
“When I was in Denmark, a photographer in Ribe told me that I had a very nice (and long) conversation, that Zeiss would like to move in this direction. Supposedly – and now comes the blast! – the Biotar 1.5/75 is to be produced again!”
The second part comes from a LeicaRumors reader who found a recent (April 2017) trademark registration for the name Biotar (the Biotar logo above was taken from the actual documents submitted for the trademark):
More on the Biotar lens from Wikipedia:
The Biotar is a six-lens lens for film and photographic cameras. Its basic construction follows the Gaussian double lens . Biotar constructions already achieved high light intensity in the 1920s . The first Biotar was calculated by the Zeiss engineer Willi Merté in 1927, the purpose was the Kinofilm. Just like Planar , the four lenses of the Gaussian double lens are expanded on each side by a further outer lens. The inner two pairs of lenses are cemented as in the planar. The xenon objective, developed by Albrecht Wilhelm Tronnier for Schneider-Kreuznach in 1925, was followed by the introduction of an important asymmetry. The field-side (front) three-part lens group was overall larger than the group behind the diaphragm.
Some vintage Zeiss Biotar lenses can be found on eBay. Of course there is no guarantee that if and when Zeiss decides to release new Biotar lenses, they will be available for Leica M mount.
Update: the Biotar name could be trademarked by Meyer Optik Görlitz (Globell Deutschland, subsidiary of the ‘net SE’ group, is the company behind the Meyer-Optik Görlitz venture).
