It’s Been a Tough Year for American Riviera Orchard
Eight months ago, Meghan Markle returned to Instagram with the promise of a new company: American Riviera Orchard. At first, it wasn’t clear what the former duchess’s lifestyle brand would entail, then the jam posts started. A-listers like Mindy Kaling, Kris Jenner, and Chrissy Teigen started receiving jars of limited-edition strawberry jam from ARO, and we thought, Well, I guess this is a jam company. Then, crickets. Then, even worse, bad press. Some sources claimed that Markle was having a hard time retaining staff, while others said that the big jam launch was slated to happen later this year. Would you believe it if I told you there was, somehow, more jam drama?
The New York Post reports that Harry & David has filed a letter of protest with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The holiday-pear purveyor claims that Markle’s business shares too similar a name with its Royal Riviera line of fruits. Per documents reviewed by the Post, Harry & David claim that there is a “likelihood of confusion” should Markle be granted her trademark.
This is not the first time Markle has seemingly faced trademark trouble with ARO. In September, the Telegraph reported that the brand’s trademark application had been rejected by the USPTO because its name was too close to American Riviera, a “common nickname” for Santa Barbara, the California city Markle and Prince Harry call home. According to the Telegraph, Markle’s addition of the word Orchard “does not diminish the primarily geographical descriptiveness of the applied for mark.” However, the brand seems to be chugging along, with all three of its trademark applications still marked as “Pending” on the USPTO website.
For Markle’s sake, I hope the next big story about ARO has the headline “Meghan Markle Finally Launches Jam, ‘The Best I’ve Ever Had,’ Says King Charles.” Maybe we’ll get a Christmas miracle.
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