Meghan Markle’s lifestyle brand As Ever has been hit with another setback!
In an explosive ruling, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has banned the Duchess of Sussex from selling clothes under her brand, reported GB News.
The mother-of-two, who has long been facing issues launching the brand due to the name American Riviera Orchard, recently came up with a new name for her business, As Ever.
However, the new rebrand is reportedly ruled to be holding much resemblance to that of a Chinese clothing company, ASEVER, which serves as a supplier to popular high street stores.
Under her new brand, Meghan applied for permission to sell several types of clothing items, including aprons, and also requested approval to sell multiple other products, including jams and dog biscuits, revealed the Mail.
In the ruling after a detailed review by USPTO in 2023, it was stated that the Duchess is not allowed to sell clothing due to its similarity with the Chinese fashion brand which is based in Shenzhen.
"The marks are identical in sound and virtually identical in appearance and are thus confusingly similar for the purposes of determining likelihood of confusion,” the ruling mentioned, adding, "Registration of the applied-for mark is refused because of a likelihood of confusion."
After the issue, Meghan Markle’s lawyers had removed the mention of clothing from the brand’s permission and approval application in January 2024.
Moreover, it is worth noting that if the Duchess wants to sell clothing items, she much come up with another brand as selling clothes under As Ever can risk her of being sued.
Meghan’s brand will launch alongside her forthcoming Netflix documentary, With Love, Meghan, in March 2025.
