The Duchess of Sussex‘s attempt to trademark her small-batch jams and other household goods has landed her in another sticky situation with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), after previous bungles and failures to secure rights over her podcast brand, Archewell, last year.
On August 31 the Patent Office denied her application, saying that businesses are not allowed to trademark geographic locations, including the nickname of the coastline around the Sussexes’ Santa Barbara, California, home: ‘the American Riviera’.
The refusal also included a slew of problems with her filing – including her apparent failure to sign the correct documents.
Meghan Markle’s bid to trademark her new lifestyle brand name was denied last week, DailyMail.com can reveal
The Duchess of Sussex had sought to trademark ‘American Riviera Orchard’ – her new line of jams and other household goods – for international use ahead of a full-scale launch next year, but was refused because the name is ‘primarily geographically descriptive’
The USPTO admonished the Duchess for giving vague descriptions of her products that could fit into multiple trademark categories.
The office said her brand’s proposed ‘cocktail napkins’ could be paper or textile – two different categories – and her ‘cooking utensils’ could be manual or electric.
American Rivera Orchard soft launched earlier this year as a lifestyle brand that will sell products such as jams and cookbooks
The refusal even included a screenshot of another Santa Barbara business’s product already using the term ‘American Riviera’.
The screenshot showed that the site sbcoastalcandles.com sells an ‘American Riviera’ candle for $34.95.
‘Registration is refused because the applied-for mark is primarily geographically descriptive,’ the Office said in its Saturday filing.
‘Commonly used nicknames for geographic locations are generally treated as equivalent to the proper geographic name of the place identified.
‘American Riviera is a common nickname for Santa Barbara, California.’
The decision could throw a wrench in the works for the launch of Markle’s embattled brand, which was reportedly scheduled to go live by the end of the year.
According to her trademark filings, Meghan, 43, plans to sell tableware, drinkware, decanters, kitchen linens and pantry goods including jellies, jams, marmalade and spreads.
The Sussexes – pictured in Colombia last month – have also reportedly ‘struggled’ to find a CEO for Meghan’s new home goods and lifestyle venture though sources close to the Duchess have insisted she is happy running the business herself
Chrissy Teigen and her husband John Legend were among the A-listers to join Meghan Markle’s select circle of ‘jamfluencers’ who got to sample her new product earlier this year
Her trademark application already suffered an embarrassing setback when the USPTO said she failed to pay $11,382 in international registration fees and other ‘irregularities’ that needed to be ‘corrected’.
DailyMail.com exclusively revealed those initial trademark troubles last month.
The USPTO’s decision is not final, and Markle’s lawyers can still appeal and revise their application to try to get at least some of her products approved.
A source close to the Sussexes told DailyMail.com that some back and forth with USPTO is ‘routine and expected when filing for trademarks’ and that they believed Meghan would be filing response with the office soon.
This is the second time her trademark applications have been shot down.
In August 2023 the Duchess abandoned a bid to get her podcast ‘Archewell’ trademarked, after the USPTO found a self-help blog by the same name had already made a successful application.
The Sussexes have also reportedly ‘struggled’ to find a CEO for Meghan’s new home goods and lifestyle venture – though sources close to the Duchess have insisted she is happy running the business herself.
And she is also having to deal with a constant revolving door with her staff.
One reported insider told Closer Magazine that Prince Harry and his wife were ‘the toughest of taskmasters’ with high staff turnover.
‘The numbers don’t lie and to have almost 20 members of staff quitting on them tells its own story,’ the source told Closer. ‘It’s unprecedented, even for a startup.
‘The brutal reality is Harry and Meghan are the toughest of taskmasters, they’re very demanding and difficult to work for and that puts a lot of people’s backs up.’
Meghan has sent products including jam and dog biscuits to some friends but plans are now afoot to start with a rosé wine
Meghan Markle ‘s close friend and former Suits co-star Abigail Spencer was one of the lucky 50 to have received a limited edition jar of the Duchess’ new American Riviera Orchard strawberry jam
The agency’s decision comes a year after the Duchess abandoned a bid to get her podcast ‘Archewell’ trademarked, after the USPTO found a self-help blog by the same name had already made a successful application
High-profile figures quitting the Sussexes’ employ have included Meghan’s personal assistant Melissa Toubati in 2018 shortly after their wedding; Meghan’s female bodyguard in January 2019; senior communications secretary Jason Knauf in March 2019; and Queen Elizabeth’s former aide and Meghan’s private secretary Samantha Cohen in October 2019.
Knauf was later revealed to be the source of a bullying complaint against Markle, which sparked a palace investigation.
Details of the probe’s conclusion were not revealed, and the Sussexes denied all claims of bullying.
The couple’s PR chief Sarah Latham quit when Harry and Meghan decided to leave the UK in 2020. The couple’s 14 other palace staff were also axed at the time.
And American PR expert Christine Weil Schirmer joined the Sussexes in 2020 as head of communications but left quietly late last year.
Last month their chief of staff, PR guru Josh Kettler, quit after just three months on the job, becoming the latest staff member to leave the Sussexes.
The decision was reportedly a ‘mutual’ agreement at the end of Kettler’s trial period.
