Meghan Markle’s nascent business initiative, her new lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard, is in crisis after U.S. patent regulators refused her request to trademark the name, as it is “primarily geographically descriptive.”
Ms. Markle, 43, who goes by her royal title of the Duchess of Sussex, has been eager to launch her new lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard, established in 2024 and modeled, according to Puck, on the successful Flamingo Estate business. She promoted it with a mysterious video and sending jars of jam and similar products to her celebrity friends and acquaintances.
The patent woes are the latest setback for Ms. Markle and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, after seeing their lucrative Spotify deal canceled (an executive there, Bill Simmons, called them “grifters”). Harry has also been rebuffed by his father when he tried to visit him during his cancer battle, and the prince has seemingly been cut off by his elder brother, Prince Williams. A trial balloon, floated in the British press, that said Harry was looking to mend fences and return to some royal duties was met with derision from palace courtiers.
As for Ms. Markle’s American Riviera Orchard, an exclusive source previously told People the brand “will reflect everything that [Markle] loves — family, cooking, entertaining and home décor.” Some of the products listed in her patent application include tableware, cookbooks, servingware, napkins, fruit preserves and nut butters, among other edible and nonedible items.
“This is something she’s been wanting to do for a while,” the insider said. “She is excited to share her style and things that she loves.”
And this is not the first time Markle has made business moves in the lifestyle space. She created a blog called The Tig in 2014 before shutting it down three years later ahead of her 2018 wedding to the Duke of Sussex. David Olusegun, founder of Creative Control Ventures, previously told Express the successful lifestyle blog was raking in $80,000 per year.
But now, the patent woes are a blow to her carefully laid plans for ARO.
Ms. Markle first filed the brand with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on Feb. 2, 2024. As of Aug. 31, however, Markle’s company is officially in limbo after the USPTO shared its “issues” with American Riviera Orchard – the main problem being the brand’s “primarily geographically descriptive” name.
The USPTO wants Markle to ditch the wording “American Riviera” because it would lead purchasers to believe the goods being sold originated in the “American Riviera” – a common nickname for the Santa Barbara, California, area where Markle resides (specifically, she lives in the extraordinarily expensive enclave of Montecito). This poses a problem for trademark laws because Markle cannot claim ownership of a well known geographic location.
Other issues with the brand include unclear identification of goods – specifically what kind of napkins she wishes to sell – and the fact that Markle left the patent application unsigned, which means it was “not properly verified.” She now has less than three months to file a response to the USPTO.
According to DailyMail.com, the issues outlined in this most recent “Office Action” have not been the only setbacks for Markle. The news outlet previously reported she failed to pay $11,382 in international registration fees and had other “irregularities” with her trademark application.
The problems could stem from what’s reported to be high staff turnover on Team Sussex, which, according to the Fleet Street tabloids, has been struggling to retain employees. OK! magazine reports that 18 members have left their team.
If American Riviera Orchard does come to fruition in one form or another, it could pair well with another upcoming lifestyle venture – a Netflix cooking show reportedly being curated and executive produced by Ms. Markle. Big names like Leah Hariton from “Selena + Chef” and Michael Steed of “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown” will serve as showrunner and director, respectively.
The New York Sun reached out to American Riviera Orchard for comment, but has yet to hear back. We also reached out to the Sussexes company Archewell via email, but their mailbox was full and could not accept any more messages.
