The Duchess of Sussex is facing a new setback in her plans to properly launch her long-awaited lifestyle business, American Riviera Orchard.
Duchess Meghan’s attempt to trademark her brand name has hit a new hurdle. The second issue is brand security.
The company that owns the “Royal Riviera” trademark has filed a complaint with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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The Duchess of Sussex has faced another setback in her bid to trademark her lifestyle brand. (Meghan Markle/TheTig)
Owner Harry & David is an American restaurant founded in 1934.
It employs over 3,300 staff and records annual sales profits of approximately AUD 3.3 billion.
The protests were deemed “relevant” due to the “potential for disruption”, the report said.
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The case is now referred to USPTO examining attorney Marco Wright.
In September, Duchess Meghan’s attempt to trademark her lifestyle brand was rejected by the USPTO.
Meghan sent jars of jam to famous friends in April to promote American Riviera Orchard. (Instagram)
It warned that companies cannot trademark geographic locations, noting that American Riviera is a “common nickname” for Santa Barbara, California, where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle live.
The addition of the word orchard “does not detract from the primarily geographical descriptive nature of the applied trademark.”
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The Duchess and her team have been given three months to provide an explanation or the application will be withdrawn. I also had to pay an additional $700 to proceed with my request.
Harry and Meghan’s office said at the time that such behavior was “routine and expected” when applying for trademarks.
American Riviera Orchard is a lifestyle brand that will soon be launched by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. (American Riviera Orchard)
One of the simple options available to the Duchess was to file a disclaimer confirming that she did not claim exclusive rights to “American Riviera.”
On March 14, Meghan launched her brand’s website with a hold page inviting followers to join a waiting list for the latest information on “products, availability and updates.”
She plans to sell everything from jams, cutlery, nut butters, placemats, cookbooks and dog biscuits.
The following month, Meghan delivered jars of homemade strawberry jam to famous friends, who promoted the product on Instagram.
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The Duchess will also star in a Netflix cooking and lifestyle series to coincide with the launch.
It is expected to revolve around Meghan’s passions such as cooking, gardening and entertaining, and many celebrities are expected to appear.
Filming took place in several locations, from a multi-million dollar home surrounded by eight acres of avocado and lemon trees to other stunning locations in California.
The premiere date has not yet been revealed.
