NYC Designer Raises Concerns Over Brand Name, Challenging Meghan Markle’s Trademark

Meghan Markle seems to have found herself in another trademark issue after her latest rebrand.

Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has decided to change the name of her lifestyle brand from American Riviera Orchard to As Ever. She stated that the previous name was limiting the scope of her product ideas.

Nevertheless, a clothing company based in New York, also named As Ever, has made it clear that they do not intend to alter their name and are considering their options moving forward.

By rebranding her business to As Ever, Meghan may have inadvertently initiated a potential trademark conflict with an independent clothing company bearing the same name in New York.

It turns out that the vintage clothing company already goes by the name, with the company’s founder addressing Meghan’s brand makeover on Tuesday.

“Wow and hello,” the company’s founder, Mark Kolski, wrote in an Instagram statement. “I want to say thank you to all the old friends who know and love our small family brand As Ever and also say hi to all those who have just become aware we exist.”

“In the last 36 hours there has been an outpouring of support and concern regarding recent events around our namesake brand,” the statement continued. “We are aware. We are not affiliated.”

Kolski pointed out that although he launched his business in 2017, the project had been down under since 2015, adding that they operate out of New York and New Jersey.

“We are grateful for all the customers coast to coast and worldwide that have supported our venture. We will continue As Ever,” the statement concluded.

The 58-year-old fashion entrepreneur later sat down for an interview with The Sun where he revealed that his brand will not be changing its name from “As Ever,” despite Meghan picking up the new moniker for her lifestyle venture.

Although noting that he feels powerless to act against the Duchess of Sussex, Kolski said he’s “exploring all possibilities” to ensure that he comes out on top.

“I’m a very small business, it’s a family-run operation. I’m essentially a one-man band,” the designer said. “This new venture has the power and money of Netflix behind it.”

“Even if I wanted to do something I don’t think I have the behemoth of lawyers and money that are behind this,” he added.

According to the news outlet, Kolski pointed out that he doesn’t own the trademark to the name but believes he has common law rights to do his business using the name as he’s been in existence since 2017, long before Meghan adopted it.

According to the news outlet, Meghan has also been accused of “plagiarism” by the mayor of a small Majorcan town over similarities between her logo and their 14th-century coat of arms.

Following her brand makeover, fans took to social media to point out the resemblance between the two logos.

The logo features a palm tree as a tribute to their Montecito mansion, flanked by two hummingbirds, which is said to be Harry’s favorite.

Both features are enclosed in an octagonal-styled shape, designed to “create a unique and personal emblem.”

Brand and culture expert Nick Ede slammed the royal’s new logo as “another headache” for Meghan’s team as it may result in “copyright issues.”

“Yes the logo that she has used for the new brand As Ever is clearly very similar to the coat of arms for an area of Majorca,” Ede told the news outlet. “This is another brand setback as it looks like it’s been copied rather than a whole new brand identity created.”

“This may potentially create copyright issues and a further headache for Meghan and her team,” the expert said.

Taking to social media on Monday to unveil the new name for her business, Meghan decried how the old name restricts her scope of products to only local goods.

“The cat’s out of the bag,” Meghan said in an Instagram video as her husband, Prince Harry, can be heard saying, “It’s recording.”

“I’m shocked we’ve kept this a secret for so long. In two weeks my show is coming out, which I’m so excited for. And also my business, which I think there has been a lot of curiosity about,” she continued.

“Last year, I had thought, ‘American Riviera, that sounds like such a great name.’ It’s my neighborhood… it’s a nickname for Santa Barbara, but it limited me to things that were just manufactured and grown in this area,” the mother-of-two said.

Meghan added, “Then Netflix came on, not just as my partner in the show, but as my partner in my business, which was huge. So I thought about it, and I’ve been waiting for a moment to share a name that I had secured in 2022, and this is the moment, and it’s called As Ever.”