Time for one of my least favorite gossip sub-genres: trademark stories. British journalists have become self-styled trademark experts in recent years, with their expertise solely devoted to the Duchess of Sussex’s businesses. Apparently, Meghan is still wrangling with the trademark office over her As Ever brand. We’ve heard that As Ever will be launched “in the spring” and we’ve already seen the first product line on Meghan’s As Ever site, which includes preserves (JAM), tea, crepe mix, cookie mix and, of course, flower sprinkles. The packaging is already done, the website is already launched, the newsletter emails have already gone out and As Ever is the established brand name. And yet, the Telegraph would have people that Meghan’s As Ever brand is in serious danger because of trademarks!
The Duchess of Sussex has again been told to amend the trademark application for her As Ever lifestyle brand over a series of errors. Meghan has been given three months to respond in order to avoid having to abandon her attempts to register the trademark. She has already been forced to rename the business because its original name, American Riviera Orchard (ARO), was reliant on a geographical location.
The latest setback could delay the launch of the business, which the Duchess has announced is coming this spring, and which will sell items including edible flower sprinkles, dried biscuit mixes, teas and a “fruit spread”.
Official documents reveal the As Ever trademark application could not be verified because a statement confirming intent was left unsigned. Various categories also needed updating as they were considered “indefinite or too broad”; namely “spoons for serving jams and fruit preserves”, “textile napkins” and “crystallised sugar for decoration”.
There is some good news for the Duchess, however, as the US Patent and Trademark Office said it had found no conflicting trademarks that would bar As Ever’s registration.
Concerns had been raised that the As Ever logo, a palm tree flanked by two hummingbirds, was the official symbol of Porreres, a small Majorcan village. But although the town’s mayor, Xisca Mora, claimed that Meghan’s new logo was “a total copy” of its coat of arms, there was no official trademark clash.
LOL, the freakout over With Love, Meghan totally overshadowed the stupid f–king drama over the logo, I completely forgot about that. The British tabloids were close to setting up a legal fund for that Spanish mayor so that she could sue Meghan, lmao. Anyway, as I said, As Ever is the brand name and everything has been done already. It’s just a matter of getting all of the paperwork completed and I’m sure it will be soon enough. And no, this will not delay the launch.
Photos courtesy of Netflix, As Ever and Cover Images.
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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**
“Concerns had been raised…” by whom?
The tabloids who made up the concerns, write about them, and refer to the concerns written by them. I doubt the Mallorcan mayor is losing much sleep over this the way the Telegraph is at this stage.
Really DT why the faux interest and faux concern?
And why are the Guardian, Indy and the BBC getting involved in these silly stories, they all used to be respectful news sources.
The gutter press just can’t stop their stupid. They are out there daily with utter nonsense. Anything for a click.
@Susan collins; has there ever been a person in our lives who has been so critically observed, lied about and mocked and jeered? Everything this woman does is trashed before they even know what they’re trashing. Witness the YouTube video about the worst columnists reviewing an interview (?)that never took place? Knives are out for her and for no reason except pure hatred. What is her crime? How can she defend herself when she has done nothing but exist.?? I am sick, sick, sick of it.
Yeah. Netflix has a legion of lawyers whose sole area is trademark law. They are a company responsible for hundreds of not thousands of shows that are based on new content as well as the holders of tens of thousands of shows and movies that have been trademarked and they need to stay on top of any infringements.
I think they got this. This is what they do.
A “total copy” of the town’s logo? They must have a different definition of total than I have.
Yeah, I don’t think its a “total copy” by any means.
the general motif of two birds flanking a palm tree are the same but they look incredibly different and there’s no chance of confusing one with the other. They are similar in the most superficial of ways but don’t look alike . Birds flanking a tree is an incredibly common motif
more importantly, the Porreres coat of arms is not officially trademarked
Send in the clowns, don’t bother they’re here.
Just more lies trying to make nothing into something…
Anyway…. I check the web site a couple of times a week……. Because I know that the items will sell out and I don’t intend to miss out😃
Samer here. I imagine they will be expensive, so I’ll have to prioritize, lol.
This just seems like normal paperwork stuff to me. The British press is so desperate for Meghan to fail. I honestly don’t know why?
It’s not that hard, really. The British press, certainly the tabloid and tabloid-like press, is used to being able to make anyone dance to their tune. They’re frustrated, offended, and angry that they haven’t been able to control Meghan, despite throwing pretty much everything at her they can find (or make up). The last recourse is to make her efforts fail, through article after article about how she’s copying, she’s lying, or her shows aren’t getting ratings (in which effort they’re assisted by the usual haters who downgrade her on public ratings systems, that the media can then quote as if it has any valid meaning). If she fails, they get revenge, but along the way, they have something to write about (since the rest of the RF is so boring), and presumably, get clicks. (Since I know little about the whole “clicks” deal, my question is, at this point, after such blatant lying, are they still getting enough of whatever feedback they need on that score?)
Bottom line – they hate her for not giving them what they want/need/demand, and they want to make her pay. And that seems to be making them money along the way. (Possibly this is also a message to anyone else in the future about what’s in store for them if they buck the press.).
The poor British press. they both desperately want the launch to be delayed so they can crow about Meghan “messing up” or “floundering” or whatever AND they want the products released ASAP so they can release breathless article after breathless article about how Meghan’s honey is going to destroy the planet or something.
They really are in a pickle, aren’t they??
Meredith Constant and Amanda Matta do a podcast called Off with their Headlines and they had a trademark lawyer a few weeks ago explain the whole process and how most of the reporting was making something much bigger than it was. It is a helpful explainer that the British reporters who care to be accurate in their reporting should listen to.
Here’s the link
https://youtu.be/ay0fAx2ZBPg?feature=shared
If I were one of these journalists, I would send a fruit basket to Meghan for keeping me gainfully employed. This is the dumbest article ever that they have written about her.
My Netflix source (an actual cousin who actually works for Netflix) says there’s a whole legal department in Netflix that handles things like this. If Netflix is throwing their money behind As Ever, then the way is clear.
My Netflix source also says I’m the only one who asks her about Meghan and my ridiculous questions make her smile during an otherwise boring work day, even though she knows less than nothing about anything I ask. 🙂 She wishes someone would pay her to say she knows nothing and how the press presents this crap is not how any of it actually works.
You do realise the tabloids will crawl through these comments and cite your Netflix source to counter all the made up nonsense they’ve written up 😂
“The Netflix source denies all concerns.”
Reminds me of Tom Bower’s trash where he cited all sorts of ridiculous sources as speaking for the Sussexes.
Anyway, I’d really love Netflix to take on the tabloids when they sail too close to the wind. They’re one of the few entities who can take on the lawfare that the tabloids tend to use and wage to silence people.
She received an office action which is super common and you have 3 months to respond. This is normal and probably happens to a majority of (intent to use) trademark applications. You can look it up on the USPTO website. It’s not a big deal and I am sure the Netflix IP department will handle this easily.
I think there is a far more sinister reason this show is getting dragged by right wing extremists. Our overlords want us isolated at home, glued to our screens, terrified and immobilized. That’s their winning hand. A show that encourages hospitality and thoughtful living with a focus on building community and friendship is exactly what the oligarchs do not want.
People shouldn’t minimize the impact of what she’s doing. Meghan’s show is subversive as hell.