Duchess of Sussex is refused a trademark for American Riviera Orchard
The Duchess of Sussex’s application to trademark the name of her new commercial venture, American Riviera Orchard, has been refused.
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) warned that businesses cannot trademark geographical locations, noting that American Riviera is a “common nickname” for Santa Barbara, California, where Prince Harry and Meghan live.
It said the addition of the word Orchard “does not diminish the primarily geographical descriptiveness of the applied for mark”.
The Duchess has already soft-launched the brand, which will promote a domestic idyll through the sale of everything from jams, cutlery and nut butters to placemats and cookbooks.
The website was launched on March 14, with a holding page inviting supporters to join a waiting list to be kept updated about “products, availability and updates”.
Since then, Meghan has delivered jars of homemade strawberry jam to a group of high-profile, high net-worth friends, who obligingly promoted the “delicious” product on Instagram.
The USPTO warned that the descriptions of the Duchess’s products could fit into multiple trademark categories, stating that “cocktail napkins” could be paper or textiles, while “cooking utensils” could be manual or electric.
The 46-page document, filed on Saturday, included screenshots of another Santa Barbara company using the term “American Riviera” to sell a specific candle and several web pages demonstrating that Santa Barbara is widely known as the American Riviera.
It said that because the location was the brand name, “a public association of the goods and services with the place is presumed”.
‘Attached evidence’
It added: “Furthermore, the purchasing public would be likely to believe that the goods and services originate in the geographic place identified in the mark because the attached evidence shows that applicant’s founder, ie, Meghan Markle, resides in the geographic place identified in the mark.”
The purpose of such rulings is “to leave geographic names free for all businesses operating in the same area to inform customers where their goods or services originate.”
The Duchess was given three months to address the “non-final officer action” by the USPTO, or face having her application dropped. She must also pay an additional $700 (£532) to move forward with the request.
Actions are ‘routine and expected’
The Sussexes’ office considers such actions “routine and expected” when filing for trademarks. It expects to respond in due course.
One option is to simply submit a disclaimer, confirming that no claim is made to the exclusive right to use “American Riviera”.
It comes after the Sussexes’ attempt to trademark Archetypes, the name of Meghan’s podcast, was rejected by the USPTO due to the “likelihood of confusion” with other brands.
