Yesterday morning, when I was looking through the articles about the Duchess of Sussex’s product line rebrand from American Riviera Orchard to As Ever, I noticed that there was already a New York clothing label called As Ever, or asevernyc.com. That site still comes up on the first page if you just Google “As Ever” and don’t include Meghan’s name. I kind of wonder if Meghan might have to make an adjustment and call her brand “As Ever, Meghan.” In any case, the guy who owns As Ever NYC said/wrote words:
A small clothing company called As Ever has addressed Meghan Markle’s decision to use the same name for her lifestyle brand. The Duchess of Sussex, 43, announced that she has renamed her lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, to As Ever in a video posted to her Instagram account on Monday, February 17.
However, the name As Ever also belongs to a vintage clothing company based in New York and New Jersey founded in 2017.
“Wow and hello,” the company’s founder, Mark Kolski, began a statement shared via Instagram on Tuesday, February 18, after Meghan’s announcement.
“I want to say thank you to all the old friends who know and love our small family brand As Ever, and also say hi to all those that have just become aware we exist. In the last 36 hours there has been an outpouring of support and concern regarding recent events around our namesake brand,” the statement said. “We are aware. We are not affiliated.”
Kolski said the brand’s journey began in 2015 when he reworked vintage military attire into signature tanker pants for his wife. The company officially launched in 2017.
“It’s 2025. We are grateful to still be here making clothing in New York & New Jersey. We are grateful for all the customers coast to coast and worldwide that have supported our venture. We will continue As Ever,” the statement concluded.
Us Weekly has reached out to Kolski for further comment, as well as representatives for the Duchess of Sussex. Kolski’s brand uses the Instagram handle @asevernyc and has 10,600 followers on the platform at the time of writing on Wednesday, February 19. Meghan’s brand, using the handle @aseverofficial, has 640,000 followers at the time of writing.
In addition to the statement, Kolski’s brand also reshared messages of support from customers on its Instagram Stories. One person wrote: “Just a royally scandalous, run-of-the-mill Tuesday. @asevernyc forever.”
Yeah, I don’t know what to say. CB did a trademark search and found Meghan’s 2024 trademark application for As Ever for a wide variety of items. CB also couldn’t find a trademark or trademark application for this clothing label either. (There’s an Asever trademark for clothing, filed in 2020, but that company is in China.) I have no idea what’s next if the clothing company doesn’t have a trademark? I don’t really care either? Like… Meghan is partnered with Netflix on this brand. Netflix has lawyers, Archewell has lawyers, they’ll figure it out.
Photos courtesy of Instagram, Cover Images.
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- Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex at Wheelchair Curling in Hillcrest Recreation Centre during Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 Featuring: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex Where: Vancouver, Canada When: 09 Feb 2025 Credit: Dutch Press Photo/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE NETHERLANDS OR FRANCE**
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- Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex at Wheelchair Curling in Hillcrest Recreation Centre during Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 Featuring: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex Where: Vancouver, Canada When: 09 Feb 2025 Credit: Dutch Press Photo/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE NETHERLANDS OR FRANCE**
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- Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex at Wheelchair Curling in Hillcrest Recreation Centre during Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 Featuring: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex Where: Vancouver, Canada When: 09 Feb 2025 Credit: Dutch Press Photo/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE NETHERLANDS OR FRANCE**
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- Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex at Wheelchair Basketball in Vancouver Convention Centre during Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 Featuring: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex Where: Vancouver, Canada When: 09 Feb 2025 Credit: Dutch Press Photo/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE NETHERLANDS OR FRANCE**
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- Whistler Welcome Celebration at the 2025 Invictus Games Featuring: Meghan Markle Where: Whistler, Canada When: 10 Feb 2025 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
So….he has a clothing brand that he’s had for nearly a decade that he never bothered to file the trademark for? Yeah…he has no legal standing. But at least he got a little press, I guess. That’s about all he’s gonna get.
He can trademark As Ever as clothing brand. Since he used it to sell clothing first. Meghan isn’t trying to sell clothes so hers will exist minus clothing. Its a non issue and Meghan nor Netflix are going to waste time over it, they do have legal team that can sort it out. The guy throwing tantrum like Meghan is killing his non existent mass clientele is funny. Because this is the most press he has gotten in decades and it is thanks to Meghan. He barely sold anything before. He runs a restaurant primarily.
This is an unnecessary PR mess for Meghan and Netflix. Did no one Google “As Ever”? The guy has a long running business with loyal customers. It looks like big business is crushing the little guy and that is an especially bad look at this moment.
Way to go to bat for the multi millionaire royals and be a mean girl about a small business owner.
@Megan they may well have done a search for “as ever” without this brand coming up. I just searched using a couple of search engines, limiting my searches to end in January 2025. This brand only came up high on the list if I specifically searched for “asever” instead of “as ever”
It’s a small boutique in NYC and it didn’t have a trademark or own asever as a domain (they use aseverny.com) which would make me thing that someone else, possibly another small business, owned the domain and the clothing company knew about it.
@pottymouth, I don’t know what you were Goggling, but the As Ever clothing brand has Google superiority as it the fist listing. They way people are twisting themselves into pretzels to justify the actions of a huge corporation is one hell of a take.
I’m still confused and I’ve stated my questions throughout the timeline. As @gem says, as ever nyc is a clothing brand. Does that mean that no one else ever can use as ever as a brand for other things? They have google superiority for their clothing brand but does that mean a big corporation is crushing the little guy bc they want to sell jam and maybe idk pots with the name as ever when as ever nyc sells clothes? I guess the concern is that Meghan’s as ever will start to come up first on google for asever as opposed to the clothing company? But again, my understanding from reading through the comments is that different products with the same name can coexist. So pitting Netflix v the clothing brand is not making complete sense to me and I would think that as ever the clothing brand would end up getting more hits bc of it? Am I not understanding something?
@Gem it’s not a stretch though, certainly it’s already being spun that way widely in various media sources. YOU can be a fan all you want, but it doesn’t mean that non-fans aren’t spinning it just this way. And it goes back to my point that this is a self-inflicted wound that will be spun negatively against her by those with a vested interest in not being especially fair to her, and that will continue to influence folks in general.
It’s not really about whether he has a legal claim (despite the failure to file a trademark he still may regardless), but rather the PR kerfuffle over this. Honestly, this feels like another self inflicted wound, M’s team should have done a quick google and found this, obviously the rest of the world quickly did, and it’s just something those who dislike her will disingenuously spin against her as a “big brand” bullying a little one. It’s a bad look in 2025, even if it’s a totally unfair take on the situation.
ETA: I’m not Megan in the comments above, but I see we had nearly the exact same take on this, agreed girl!
@Florencia
Big brand bullying little one is a stretch because the guy had 10 years to build a brand and didn’t bother. Meghan cannot crush a business that isn’t selling much or anything. They have maybe 10 products or less on their website which is buy mail order and their last post before throwing a hissy fit over Meghan in Instagram was in 2023.
They sell very basic looking, overpriced clothing that they label vintage. Meghan hate may give them a temporary window to relaunch it but I don’t think the team involved has the business skills to utilize it. If they did, their name would have a trademark before Meghan filed hers. You can’t milk a situation long term minus skill and foresight. All they have is bitterness and arrogance. And the clientele egging them aren’t in it to support them long term. They just wanted to bash Meghan. That’s not a sustainable business model.
As Ever NYC did a collaboration with Madewell in 2017. So at least at that point they were a fairly big deal. The clothing isn’t to my personal liking but I don’t think I am in their target demographic either. Surprised the trademark issue didn’t come up with the Madewell collaboration.
I don’t like the name for a brand, or company, period. I liked American Riviera Orchard much more, and I didn’t particularly like that either.
Then again, I thought Goop was a dumb name but at one point it was valued at over 250 million.
@Elle his clothing line was defunct for some time. Look Covid wasn’t kind to small businesses. But the guy pretending Meghan is killing his brand which was barely breathing is a stretch. If he was as big as everyone thinks he is, Madewell would have continued the partnership. He clearly had opportunities in the past to become big and wasn’t able to. I don’t think catering to derangers is going to make the 2nd time much better. On top of it, economy is worse off now. The people encouraging him to show Meghan up aren’t going to pay 400 dollars for clothes he no longer even has in inventory.
LOL. Except there are a number of people who have trademarked? As Ever in different industries. Some are cancelled or inactive. Hey! There were trademarks with that name involving all sorts of things. For fun I queried Just Me as a trademark. LOL Lots of things came up.
How is creating a trademark for non clothes goods that has the same name as a clothing brand(who has no trademarks) “bullying” a small business? It’d be one thing if Meghan and Netflix stole the internet domain from the guy or tried to force him to give up his instagram handle or business name(like Lady Antebellum tried with Lady A back in 2020) but i haven’t seen evidence of this. Have you?
Two completely different industries, both can exist with the same name. There is no trademark violation.
And, that clothing brand owner should thank Meghan for the biggest boost in their business that they will EVER get.
Agreed but I don’t know if anyone recalls Taylor Swift’s album Evermore, I think, that also shared its name with a clothing brand. I think most of the comments on that were incredibly negative about Taylor’s gall to take over a company’s name like that.
Taylor Swift like Meghan, have haters who will find any opportunity to complain or make negative comments about something that isn’t under their control and doesn’t negatively impact anyone. It’s a name brand that he didn’t care to get trademarked. They are in different industries and Meghan actually brought his clothing brand more attention than he had before Tuesday.
It wasn’t Evermore, it was Folklore. I was one of the people who was very aware of the folklore brand that preceded Taylor’s album — it’s a small brand aggregator and retailer that focuses on and specializes in Black-American and African-owned businesses, mostly higher-tier fashion and luxury brands.
I’m not a Swiftie, but I’m also not a hater, and I was annoyed by the conversation because it came up during a time when people were waking up to white artists and brands ignoring or outright stealing from black artists and brands, at times by literally taking their names. Around this time, people were loudly against Lady Antebellum’s name change since it infringed on Lady A, a mega-talented veteran artist with a smaller audience, and Kylie Jenner was also getting dunked on for stealing concepts and designs from a small, black designer with her own label, as two other examples.
The folklore conversation was very much a part of that larger conversation, but completely written off by Swift’s fanbase, even when they agreed that it was bad when other people did it.
I love Meghan, and I think that everyone is spot on when they say that a) lawyers exist to handle things like this and b) these are two companies in different fields, so there is no infringement.
But this situation is not exactly that other situation — folklore owned their trademark, they were harassed by some of Swift’s fanbase, and their was a merchandising overlap that could be confusing.
I have a very unusual surname and there are at least 2 companies in my country that use it as their brand/company name. Can I sue them and get upset???
He should have filed for a trademark the moment he started seeing profit. That’s just common business sense. Unless Meghan starts selling clothes, he has nothing to fear and can actually move forward to TM his business under the proper category.
Amen to that. They’ll get a bump in sales, and a big hater bump in visibility. Otherwise, today is Wednesday, and business goes on.
Exactly what I was going to say.. no one would have heard of this clothing label or care if it wasn’t for Meghan having the legal trademarks.
I feel like I keep learning. I’m understanding this different industries comment more as I read. At the moment I have no plans to trademark anything but who knows maybe one day?
“CB did a trademark search and found Meghan’s 2024 trademark application for As Ever for a wide variety of items. CB also couldn’t find a trademark or trademark application for this clothing label either”
And that’s the problem. You can’t not trademark something and then be shocked when someone that doesn’t know about your business accidentally uses it.
And it is a small family retail outfit of vintage apparel. Nothing to do with packaged goods. Again, just fodder for trolls.
The clothes aren’t vintage, they make them.
Hopefully, As Ever NYC’s website’s increased page views result in a nice bump in sales.
See, I feel the opposite. I felt like the response was a bit snarky and rude. If they had come out and said something like, “great minds think alike” or how excited they were to see her products even though Meghan’s As Ever is in a different space from the NY As Ever, I’d have more respect.
I am just tired of so many people taking every opportunity to jump on the deranger bandwagon and bash Meghan. Don’t want someone else to use As Ever? Then you should’ve trademarked it.
So you think a small business should be gracious when a billion dollar streaming company and a multi millionaire royal appropriate their name?
It’s not their name. They don’t own it. They are As Ever NYC. If they wanted to own it they should have TMd it to avoid this scenario.
They still have a chance to do TM under their proper category. But I guess bitching about it is better than actually doing it.
Are some folks even serious? Which the heck is the “large streaming giant blah blah blah”? And now Duchess Meghan is a “billionaire royal”? LOL, so, The Duchess Meghan of Sussex is a wealthy royal only when it suits your narratives but a broke ass Z list actress and a A list wanna be at other times when it doesn’t suit whichever narratives you trying to push? And, why y’all think there are laws governing trademarks and liens? It’s for this very reason. If the “small clothesline” owner did not think it important enough to trademark their name, someone else searched for trademarks and found none and then trademarked it for themselves, who the heck is to blame? And, personally, I don’t even think this person cares that much about this. They put out a statement and moved it along. It’s the usual suspects deranger h8ters that are making a mountain out of this molehill and trying so hard to cry more than the bereaved.
I’m still confused. Netflix is not making AsEverNyc clothes? So how are they crushing the clothes company by creating AsEver jams? I don’t think in this case name appropriation applies bc companies can exist with the same name for different products. This is really starting to sound like a bad faith argument. No small business is being asked to remain gracious? They have clothes. Meghan has jams. Yes, I know she’ll have more products than jam but it has not once been advertised as clothes related. They don’t own as ever for every product created. They can keep as ever for the clothes. What’s the problem?
If they didn’t file for a trademark. Then they lose the name. It’s that simple. You have to do all the work. Not just the part you like.
This country is huge. If he didn’t file a trademark, which he should’ve done 10 years ago, there’s no way to reasonably expect that she’d know his small company existed. It sucks for him, but he’s not going to be able to claim sole ownership of that name because he didn’t do the work to secure it.
Couldnt she (/ the people in charge of research for her brand) just .. google?
We Google things all of the time and get a plethora of different things that have the same or similar names or references but without a trademark there would be no reason to think that using a similar name or even the same name would be an issue. That is especially the case since they are in different industries and he didn’t bother to trademark it.
How do you know that they didn’t? Since there are distinctly different goods involved and this company apparently goes by As Ever NYC, it would likely not be seen as a problem.
The post above me argued that “the country is huge” and she couldn’t have possibly known. I responded to that.
Personally, I would probably do at least a google research before naming my brand – to avoid any possible legal repercussions (probably wont have any in this case) or even just brand confusion or bad publicity. And, as a trademark attorney commented further down, that does seem to be the case, as
“there are trademark clearance companies that conduct searches that can find uses like these – they don’t only search the federal register, they also search the internet, social media, company name registers, etc. “:
it’s just – why wouldn’t you, you know? And then, if you have done your research and really want the name “as ever”, get in touch with said company to avoid publicity like this?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it: Meghan Markle can NEVER do ANYTHING RIGHT in some people’s eyes. Sometimes I really hate the world & mankind: always criticism & hate, refusing kind & joy. It’s these nitpicks that trigger my depression. Yes, I know, I should never come here to read all these comments.
Who’s to say they didn’t google and see that yes there is an as ever clothing company. But knowing trademarking rules and the fact that the same name company can exist for different products knew that it wasn’t an issue. Sure, it’s being made an issue by haters and those susceptible to listening to haters. And?
It’s not Meghan’s fault they didn’t do what they should have done from the start. It’s a him problem.
So if Meghan wanted to do anything clothing related with as ever would she run into a problem? Or has she already trademarked clothing items? Maybe clothing could be asevermeg or something for a distinction. I don’t know too much about it but if as ever nyc didn’t ever trademark I don’t know what can be done?
The two names can co exist as they are currently offering different products. If Meghan wanted to launch a clothing line under As Ever in US (may not be an issue for other markets) could lead to problems as despite As Ever NYC not having a registered trademark they can argue they’ve been trading under the name & have built goodwill under that name in USA for selling clothes & there’s a risk of confusion for the public with Meghan’s brand
Thank you, that makes sense.
So basically, Meghan selling jam and home products can coexist with this company selling clothes? If Meghan ever expanded to clothes, she would need to trademark a new name.
Lady Antebellum the band and Lady A, a Soul singer from Washington state had a similar issue when the band decided to change and drop the “ntebellum” from their name. The band had trademarked “Lady A” before the Soul singer who had used this name for decades did and there in lied the problem. But in the end, they both settled, in court, and agreed to co-exist. One in Washington state as a Soul musician and the band in Nashville as country singers. Both are in music and there’s no confusion in among their clients. C’est la vie, they both will be fine. It doesn’t seem to me like the guy is giving this issue as much oxygen as the haters would want him to, and Meg has no mean malicious bone in her body so, they both will be alright.
Yes Meg did her homework and got the name for herself so too bad for the clothing label not doing its due diligence and getting it trademarked for himself but the gutter press will use this for its nasty articles because the truth is not their friend.
I mentioned this in the other article this morning, this business chose a fairly innocuous name didn’t do the business end to trademark it, and is now salty that someone with a larger profile is going to be associated with it? I mean she even got aseverofficial as the Instagram handle.
He’ll of course get a little bit of a boost from the Meghan haters but they aren’t as loyal as Meghan supporters, and they won’t help out given his response.
Another commenter mentioned that he hadn’t even updated his Instagram in the last two years, so I’m not really sure how much they’re trying to expand their base of their business to feel like Meghan using the name it’s going to impede on their 5 years strategic plan.
Yeah, I feel like there’s an opportunity to say, hey yeah we’re as ever nyc and we’re really excited for Meghan doing as ever home products. Then maybe start getting asevernyc clothing trademarked? Meghan supporters might shop this person’s site if this person doesn’t bash Meghan. I have no idea if this person is or not.
The clothing company should be happy for the bump in visibility. It’s as if Beyonce was going to use the name of something you’ve been using but failed to trademark and you now have the eyes of all the Beyhive on your product. This is the best free advertising they could have ever hoped for. Let the lawyers flesh out the details.
Trademark attorney here. You can own a trademark without filing for a U.S. trademark registration. Without a registration, the trademark owner owns “common law” rights. Also, there are trademark clearance companies that conduct searches that can find uses like these – they don’t only search the federal register, they also search the internet, social media, company name registers, etc. Finally, companies with the same name can coexist if they provide distinct goods/services.
Since this other company goes by AsEverNYC, would that have been caught in this search or not?
I believe the name of Meghan’s company is As Ever Enterprises LLC. at least that is what is on the website.
asevernyc.com was first registered in 2016, while asever.com was first registered in 2000. Kolski knew he was taking some chance on having a non-distinct trademark when he settled for his version. Does that play into it?
Thank you for providing info on the common law concept which makes sense. If a clothing company wanted the name as ever I could see the conflict. Yet that’s not the case here. And your last sentence. That companies with the same name can coexist if they provide distinct good/services. I don’t foresee AEnyc providing jam or Meghan planning on clothes at this point. So I get that the Sun is running to this company for quotes but does the common law rule apply in this case with different products?
I find it hard to believe Netflix’s army of lawyers at the very least didn’t do their due diligence before all of this went live.
The clothing line/shop owner made a mistake. Lawyers on both sides will hash it out, but Meghan and Netflix aren’t at fault. They properly obtained the necessary permissions to use the trademark material.
The snarkiness is unfortunate but I guess that’s just par for the course in how folks treat Black women. I can actually picture Meghan wearing some of the pieces they sell.
The Meghan haters have descended on the brand’s IG. Unfortunately, that small brand will regret saying anything publicly when it’s all said and done. It’s never worth it when people realize they were used by the British tabloids to continue their slander against Meghan.
If anything, this will drive some/more/any customers to the website. I just checked because of the name and I doubt I’m the first. You can’t pay for that kind of advertising.
This does not seem like a big deal to me. The other company’s name is As Ever NYC. I think the two can co-exist.
Of course it’s headline news (or was) on the Fail.
Bit of a fail by her lawyers for sure.
They’re not that small. They had a collab with Madewell a few years ago. I used to shop JCrew and Madewell a bunch in college but now mostly JCrew. I almost bought a jumpsuit from the collab because of the cute color but went with a sleeveless one at JCrew instead. Sleeveless jumpsuit always seems more versatile than sleeved to me.
Seems like it would only limit her on the clothing even if it is an issue and the announcement vibe was more like house/decor.
Not sure how it’s a fail on the part of her lawyers when he didn’t have it trademarked and he’s listed as As Ever NY? Meghan and her lawyers aren’t responsible for having to research the names of other companies or trademarks of other companies. His is a clothing line that just because you or a few people have heard of him, doesn’t mean that we should expect her, her lawyers or anyone responsible for verifying trademarks would know who he was, especially since he isn’t trademarked.
Seems like a fail because good lawyers advise on legal risks. A fuss with a trademark claim is not the best publicity at the start even if the clothing store loses in the end. Like someone else mentioned, lawyers should have suggested to reach out to the other company beforehand. Store probably would have pre-planned a congrats announcement to take advantage of the free publicity.
Madewell collab doesn’t make it super famous but it’s not some NYC hole in the wall either.
I’ve done some trademark stuff & in practice haven’t seen this idea of reaching out to someone with a similar brand name to see if they can co-exist without there being some type of existing dispute. If anything a friendly outreach could just alert a party to protect their brand name eg file a TM application if it was unregistered.
If Meghan has no plans for clothing products under As Ever I cannot see this being an issue. People & companies trade under similar brand names all the time. By way of example look how many registered trademarks there are for ‘Smiths’ in USA
How do we know that the response by As Ever NYC is not part of a negotiated agreement?
Meghan had the trademark. They don’t. That what it comes down to.
People keep saying this in the comments, and in this post, and that’s not true. A brand name does not have to have to file a trademark to own the trademark. People shouldn’t be claiming to know the ins and outs of trademark law when they clearly don’t. And an “NYC” or “LLC” at the end of the legal name is usually not relevant if the trade name is the same.
I understand wanting to defend Megan on this because she gets so much unnecessary hate. But this is a fumble by her legal team. It may not matter if the product lines stay distinct. But her team should have at least reached out to this other As Ever brand. Which is not some no-name shop. They’ve previously partnered with major retailers like Madewell.
Okay, but let’s say the product lines are distinct, which they seem to be? Is it still an issue or a “fumble”?
the thing is there are many as ever companies, there is even one from 2000. if you don’t trademark/register a trademark then you have no leg to stand on (especially if you’ve been running for so long). this is not a bad thing for meghan because her company will launch regardless. it’s also a fact that both companies sell different things so there’s no case here.
even further is that if meghan gets her trademark she could sue the nyc company if she wished.
It’s not a fumble it’s you not understanding how trademarks works and therefore absorbing bad takes from people who also don’t fully understand the issue. He doesn’t have a trademark so has no leg to stand on legally.
The clothing company owner didn’t sound mad to me just like, yeah okay we both have the same name. Am I missing something?
I thought the same when I saw the initial post but it’s the reposts that come across as being dickish.
Gosh – She just can’t catch a break with this can she!
Gosh – I think she’ll be fine.
What do you think is going to happen here? Do you know how many companies have similar or almost same names? Of course they know about the NY one. And where else did she ‘not catch a break?’ SHE and Harry have literally NEVER failed so far.
People really are reaching today. I hope you have a good chiropractor.
I would feel for him but I don’t. His message should have read thank you Meghan for the bump in sales and visibility, instead his ass is being salty because he was too short sighted to trademark his store name and now he wants to blame Meghan for his lack of follow through. These people get on my last nerve.
I feel the same way. Life is too short and we need to make the best of it but these people are constantly the most draining and negative people. They also get on my last nerve.
I don’t understand why Meghan just didn’t use ‘The Tig’ when it became clear there was a problem with obtaining a trademark for ‘America Riviera Orchard’. I agree with Kaiser in saying that I hope on launch day the Brand name is revealed fully to be ‘As Ever, Meghan’.
However it unfolds, I can’t wait! 🙂
Because The Tig was a blog, not a lifestyle brand
I feel like Meghan’s team kind of let her down here. We all know there’s a rabid press looking for any opening to criticise her. A simple google search would have shown this other As Ever company. If they can check for trademarks they can do a google search. Her team should have done that so her brand was protected and couldn’t be criticized with all the usual “flop”, “incompetent” BS. She could have gone with As Ever, Meghan the first time.
There are many As Ever companies. If you don’t have a trademark then you can’t complain. The media was going to find a problem regardless anyways
There is a chinese clothing brand called ASEVER they have trademarked that name this store did not this store exist since 2010 so they could have a probleme with her to but they are not idiots and haters who want to use Meghan
There is no law you can’t have an almost identical name. You can have Champion Brand Inc. and also have Champion Brand, Inc.
People avoid it when possible, but there is nothing wrong here.
There was a store in NY, called Cracker Barrel. They sold woodstoves and some old timey candies. Along came Cracker Barrel, the giant company, and sued them. Small company gave up bc of legal fees, but had they not, there’s no guarantee that Big Cracker Barrel would have won.
I also don’t see anything in his post to show he’s dismayed. This is a boon for him.
It sounds like he is getting more traffic than he was previously. If that’s the case, don’t rock the boat. Meghan is not selling the same product and they never trademarked the name. It’s not an issue. We know it’s the crazy people causing the problems.
This happens ALL the time. This is only being highlighted by multiple outlets because it’s Meghan. If the name’s not trademarked Meghan can use it and buy the domain name from As Ever NYC if indeed these other outlets are correct and As Ever NYC owns the domain name. It’s totally cool when white men with bigger companies and more money buy someone out to use a name. It’s only a blunder when it happens while women are trying to create empires that they call this very common hiccup when launching something big a “blunder”. I think especially because she is a Black woman with the ability to launch a successful brand similar to many white people, which makes this news at all. This is a non issue. An issue would be defrauding her investors the way the Middleton’s did. Finally, it is absolutely okay that Meghan will have to do what do many other lifestyle business moguls have to do and that’s actually, you know, be bold! Be tough! Be even ruthless. It’s business! Oh, so you can’t be a business mogul and a humanitarian? Yes, you can! Meghan doesn’t need to be a sweet, quiet and conforming women. She is not a doormat! Stop putting women bosses into boxed in gender roles, and moreover, stop making an issue out of something you wouldn’t make an issue of if Meghan were a white man!
Meghan owns asever.com.
I haven’t seen anything to indicate that Meghan wants to start a clothing line. If she chooses to go that route, it’ll have its own brand. This entire argument is silly.
I’m sure they will settle this somehow. With all of the millions of companies in the world, I imagine that this happens frequently. Money usually resolves most things.
Meghan won’t have to pay a penny. This man didn’t register a trademark and has a clothing company not a lifestyle brand. Just like there is a Dove soap and a Dove chocolate bar 2 brands can co exist if they are selling separate things. This is as much a non story as the Spanish town logo. Fake outrage.
Well I ready the distinctly snarky bit first by Maria over at LG….
And felt badly for the mess especially since the tabloids will go nuts over this.. Forever. And for Meghan
And surprised that Netflix didn’t catch it or check?
This seems sloppy
.And it will land on Meghan’s shoulder of course- how dare she and just pushing herself in and not doing the work… on and on. Yuk
I feel badly for Meghan.
I’m hoping that if there is a need – the lawyers will figure it out.
I don’t know that I feel badly for Meghan? Bc why? She trademarked AsEver for lifestyle products that are not clothes so thus not encroaching on a clothing brand with the same name. What is there for lawyers to even figure out? That’s silly. So how is it sloppy if they’re following the trademark rules? I’ll say it for a second time. It sounds like there continues to be snarky bad faith arguments put out there from tabloids like the Sun or the DM and anyone who reads information influenced by those spaces.
LG and Maria are haters. The only people who think this is a problem are haters or aren’t thinking rationally and believing the tabs. People have given about 20 examples above where same names for different companies. It happens constantly. Don’t believe what you read on LG or tabs, it’s not true. It’s not an own goal, a misstep, a problem, a rookie error, she’s not been let down. She needs no one’s sympathy for this except the way she’s being dragged.
Please do some research into trademark law before posting takes like this that have been heavily influenced by tabloids. This is not a misstep. This man did not trademark his company name and has a completely different business to Meghan legally he doesn’t have a leg to stand on. Meghan should just ignore this non story.
If this man is genuinely upset that a more famous company is selling completely different items to him but has the same name (and we don’t know if he is upset – that is the media’s take on it) then he is a fool. a more creative businessman would see the opportunity for some free positive publicity.
I tried typing asevernyc into google and got the clothing company at the top. ” As ever” gives stories about Meghan and As ever.
This is stupid in so many ways.
(a) Meghan was let her down by her people and by Netflix. They should’ve discovered this store and worked something out beforehand.
(b) “As Ever, Meghan” is a better name. Meghan is the draw and she should just go full-on “Martha Stewart” if she’s being serious about launching a business.
(c) The “As Ever” store (which sounds cool) should’ve contacted Meghan’s people directly after learning about this. Something could’ve been worked out. Hell – all they’d need was for Meghan to showcase them on one IG story and they’d be set for life. It would make her look better, too and she should post ASAP.
It’s not a good look for anybody.
I just flashed on “Schitts Creek” The Dress Barn name negotiations! Hilarious episode!
Also “Apple” computers and Beatles “Apple” music.
There’s no trademark dispute because they sell wildly different products….I think most people can tell a jam jar from an overall or wrinkled pants. Meghan doesn’t need to lift any fingers. She needs to ignore the chaos and launch it in March. The clothing brand doesn’t even have a proper website and was essentially defunct by all means until Meghan made her announcement and their white people feelings got hurt.
You don’t understand trademarks. There is no dispute here. It is not up to Meghan’s team to reach out to ever minuscule brand with As Ever in the title that couldn’t even be bothered to trademark their name. You have swallowed too much of the tabloid narrative and are not understanding how trademarks work. As long as Meghan doesn’t sell clothing this man doesn’t have a leg to stand on
There is no issue here. 2 things.
1. As for the company name, Meghan is in another state. She is California and this business is NY and NY.
2. As long as Meghan’s trademark selling clothing, does not sell the same clothing as this merchant which would be confusing consumers, then she is fine.
I can trademark a company Apple but as long as I am not selling phones or computers or the products apple has trademark then I am fine.
I thought the owner’s reply was just fine and not mad or salty. I’m sure he is grateful for the profile bump.
Then he went to the Daily Fail and whined like a Karen.
The name Earthshot was already in use by four organisations in the US before Prince William launched his prizes. How come no-one’s objected to that (or have they)?
https://www.earthshot.eco/
https://www.earthshot.vc/
https://earthshot.us/
http://earthshot.foundation/
Meghan is going to be fine. I’m 100% certain that her team will work this out. The small biz guy is making bank too. It’s all good.
If he didn’t trademark it he is SOL. The lawyers search the trademark site. Not google.
I am sensing there are more than a few trolls here masquerading as fans and perpetuating this false claim that Meghan’s lawyers dropped the ball. This is a made up claim by the tabs and as usual a false controversy. The first thing you do in a branded product is a trademark and copyright search. The lawyers no doubt listed all the obscure businesses using it and concluded there is no risk. Just because the tabs can get a small Spanish town mayor or a clothing business to say somethind does not mean this is a legitimate story or screw up.
The fact that the clothing brand owner decided to talk to the Daily Fail tells me all I need to know. Next.