Meghan Markle's American Riviera Orchard to undergo major change? Duchess' team mulling ‘costly measure’

Meghan Markle recently suffered a major setback after the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) warned that her lifestyle business American Riviera Orchard cannot trademark geographical locations. Following the rejection of her application, the Duchess is now reportedly planning to rename her upcoming brand.

Speaking to the Express, an insider stated, Markle's crew is in a “spin”.

According to the sources close to Markle, the situation is uncannily similar to troubles faced by billionaire reality star Kim Kardashian's shapewear brand in 2019. Kim was ultimately compelled to rebrand her company from Kimono to Skims due to allegations of cultural appropriation.

All you need to know about Meghan Markle team's plans

An insider informed the magazine that Markle's team is thinking about “backups”. “They’ve been put into a bit of a last-minute spin but they’re not too worried because they are aware that Kim [Kardashian] also changed her brand name after launch and it still did amazingly well,” the source said.

Although changing the name at this point in time would be a “costly measure” due to all the branding Markle has done so far, the insider stated that it “wouldn't be the end of the world”.

The name that Markle chose for her brand is a sweet homage to Santa Barbara, California, where she lives with her spouse, Prince Harry, and their two kids.

The term Orchard “does not diminish the primarily geographical descriptiveness of the applied for mark,” according to a USPTO statement on Saturday.

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The 43-year-old former actress now has three months to respond to the USPTO's letter, or else her application could get rejected.

In addition, she needs to spend an extra $700 in order to proceed with the trademark for registration.

Markle is yet to disclose the debut date of her new business venture, which she revealed in March. While the products of her lifestyle brand are not up for sale, the Duchess gifted strawberry jam jars to a select number of celeb friends in April, hinting at a great start of the company's launch.

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