Over the last few months Meghan Markle has revealed details of her newest business venture and it’s something of a departure from the former actress’ previous endeavours.
Called American Riviera Orchard, Meghan looks to be launching herself into the homely and healthy sphere of celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow and Martha Stewart.
After the announcement of the lifestyle brand on Instagram in March 2024 there followed a generous sharing of branded jam and delicately packaged dog biscuits to famous friends, including Kris Jenner, actress Mindy Kaling and model Chrissy Teigen.
The trademark application for the American Riviera Orchard brand also revealed the lifestyle business intends to sell tableware, drinkware, kitchen linens, edible treats and cookbooks.
With all that in mind, Netflix quickly lined up a cooking show in partnership with the 43-year old Duchess. The Daily Beast reported in July filming has already finished.
TRADEMARK TROUBLES
But, according to the Daily Mail, not all is well in paradise and the former-royal appears to have run into a potentially multi-billion dollar problem.
Meghan is faced with a protest lodged with the Patent and Trademark Office by a firm owning the trademark ‘Royal Riviera’.
The owner of the company, Harry & David, is an American institution founded in 1934, which boasts annual sales of £1.7 billion and 3,300 staff.
The protest has been deemed “relevant” because of a “likelihood of confusion” and it has been referred to the Trademark Office’s Examining Attorney.
It’s not the first hiccup the brand has faced. Chosen as a reference to Meghan and her husband Prince Harry’s current place of residence: Santa Barbara in California, the American part of the name has been highlighted as a problem.
The reason? The USPTO told the Duchess that businesses are forbidden from trademarking geographic locations. That means the ‘American Riviera’ part of her brand name is off limits.
“Registration is refused because the applied-for mark is primarily geographically descriptive,” USPTO said in its filing, according to the Daily Mail.
“Commonly used nicknames for geographic locations are generally treated as equivalent to the proper geographic name of the place identified.”
She was given three months to provide clarification, as well as paying an additional $700 (£535) to continue her application.
Then, there’s the trouble she’s had trying to secure a trademark for her now-defunct lifestyle blog, The Tig.
On the blog, Meghan shared insights into her favourite foods, travel discoveries and personal reflections.
Last year, the Duchess hit a roadblock when she failed to submit a ‘statement of use’ with her application for it, meaning that her lawyer, Danielle Weiss, needed to seek a six-month extension.
GETTING TO WORK
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are no strangers to starting new businesses, and they have embarked on numerous ventures over the past few years.
Meghan launched a podcast named Archetypes and also invested in an oat milk coffee company. Meanwhile, Prince Harry released his memoir, Spare, in 2023.
The couple have also made deals with Netflix, releasing a docuseries about themselves in 2022 and Meghan’s new project, according to a source, is reported to be “a take on her and the joy of living”.
In line with American Riviera Orchard’s branding it’s likely to include “little things she’s learned in terms of being a modern-day hostess” as well as cameos from famous faces.
Additionally, the pair have continually worked on their non-profit organisation, the Archewell Foundation, for many years.
The launch of the American Riviera Orchard Instagram page marked the first time either of the Sussexes have used social media since 2020 when the pair made their last update to their @SussexRoyal Instagram page after stepping back as working members of the royal family.
Meghan shut down all of her personal social media profiles and The Tig blog after getting engaged to Prince Harry in 2018.
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