Meghan Markle has been given the green light to launch her new household goods brand, which will tie in with her upcoming Netflix leisure show. However, the Duchess of Sussex will not be able to use her 'As Ever' brand to sell clothing as originally planned, due to a naming conflict with a Chinese fast-fashion retailer.
Her lawyers applied to the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in October 2022 to trademark the 'As Ever' name for products including aprons, jams, and dog biscuits. ASEVER supplies high street shops such as H&M and is based in Shenzhen, China. USPTO stated: "The marks are identical in sound and virtually identical in appearance and are thus confusingly similar for the purposes of determining likelihood of confusion.
"Registration of the applied-for mark is refused because of a likelihood of confusion.". The duchess's lawyers made a revised application in January last year, removing any mention of clothing. USPTO has now approved the trademark. A US trademarks lawyer told The Mail On Sunday that Meghan risks being sued if she attempts to sell clothing under the As Ever brand.
However it may pose little difficulty for Prince Harry's wife - whose trend-setting style choices regularly sell out - as she will will simply need a new name for any clothing line. Her line of 'As Ever' products will launch just as Netflix begins streaming her new lifestyle show 'With Love, Meghan' on March 4, with the products available in Netflix stores in Dallas and Philadelphia.
The duchess has previously sought to use the name - American Riviera Orchard - but USPTO refused the application as a geographical area cannot be trademarked. In one of her Instagram posts Meghan said: ‘Last year I had thought, American Riviera, that sounds like such a great name.’.
‘It’s my neighborhood… it’s a nickname for Santa Barbara but it limited me to things that were just manufactured and grown in this area.’. The duchess is facing legal action from council bosses in the village of Porreres in Mallorca, Spain, as they argue her logo mimics the town’s traditional coat of arms dating as far back as 1370.
