Meghan Markle is facing “utter chaos” after her lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard suffered a setback, according to royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams.
The Duchess of Sussex’s application to trademark the name of her new commercial venture was refused by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
Speaking on GB News, Fitzwilliams was staggered at the Sussex administrative team appearing to fail to catch out such a prospect.
“You can’t apparently use the name of a county or a specific place in your brand”, he said.
Richard Fitzwilliams says Meghan has suffered a setback
GB NEWS
“It is rather extraordinary that none of the Sussexes’ administrative team seemed to know this. It’s a basic thing.
“No one appears to have looked it up or discovered it. They’ve now had the setback in American Riviera Orchard.
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Richard Fitzwilliams joined Martin Daubney on GB News
GB NEWS
“We know that Meghan has been sending jams to celebrities and had remarkably few endorsements. Nonetheless, this was supposed to be a big thing and it would tie-in with the Netflix programme.
“It looks as though it will now be considerably delated, and possibly the name may well have to change. It’s absolute chaos.”
The USPTO said the addition of the word Orchard “does not diminish the primarily geographical descriptiveness of the applied for mark.”
The Duchess has gone about soft launching the brand by sending out jam samples to celebrity friends like Kris Jenner.
Meghan Markle released a limited collection of jams for American Riviera Orchard
Instagram / mrstracyrobbins
But none of the products have been released to the public since the website was launched on March 14.
A holding page invites supports to join a waiting list to be kept updated about “products, availability and updates”.
The USPTO ruled that the descriptions of the Duchess’s products could branch into multiple trademark categories.
The 46-page document included screenshots of another Santa Barbara company using the term “American Riviera”.
It said that the use of the location in the name means a “public association of the goods and services with the place is presumed”.
