Meghan Markle has suffered a significant blow as the Duchess of Sussex cannot sell clothes under her new "As Ever" brand, new reports claim.
The lifestyle brand, previously called American Riviera Orchard, is set to launch in Spring this year.
The new rebrand was reportedly ruled to be too similar to that of a Chinese clothing company, which supplies popular high street stores like H&M.
The Duchess of Sussex, 43, applied for permission to sell aprons and other items of clothing under the 'As Ever' name with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in October 2022, according to the Mail.
Meghan Markle has suffered a significant blow as the Duchess of Sussex cannot sell clothes under her new "As Ever" brand, new reports claim
Getty
In addition, the report reveals that the former actress requested to sell a long list of products, including jams and dog biscuits.
After review by USPTO, the trademark office issued a 145-page "partial rejection" in July 2023, saying Meghan could not sell clothing because the brand name was "virtually identical" to the "fast fashion" brand ASEVER, based in Shenzhen, China.
USPTO said: "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 trademark office cited "clothing category Class 25" in their reply to Meghan's legal team.
The Duchess of Sussex, 43, applied for permission to sell aprons and other items of clothing under the 'As Ever' name with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in October 2022, according to the Mail
GettyThe response stated: "Registration of the applied-for mark is refused because of a likelihood of confusion."
A revised application for "As Ever" was approved after the Duchess of Sussex's lawyers removed any mention of clothing in January 2024.
A Los Angeles trademark lawyer said last night: "If she sells clothing under the As Ever brand, she risks being sued."
Meghan, who originally wanted to sell aprons for her lifestyle brand, will be forced to sell clothes under a different brand name if she wants to market her own clothing line.
LATEST ROYAL NEWS:
The lifestyle brand, previously called American Riviera Orchard, is set to launch in Spring this year
GettyThe brand is set to launch alongside the mother-of-two's upcoming eight-part Netflix documentary, 'With Love, Meghan', which will be available for viewers to watch on March 4.
The show, which was originally planned to be released on January 15 before it was delayed due to local wildfires, marks her latest venture into the lifestyle sector.
In Megan's latest move, the duchess has abandoned her original brand name, "American Riviera Orchard", in favour of "As Ever", with a new social media and website created in preparation for the launch.
GB News has contacted the Duchess of Sussex for comment.
