The United States Patent and Trademark Office have decided to refuse the request filed by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to obtain exclusive rights to the name 'Archetypes.'
- June 23, 2023
AceShowbiz - The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have gotten a trademark application for "Archetypes" rejected. The couple had filed for exclusive rights to the name - which was used by Meghan Markle as the title of her now-cancelled Spotify podcast - but the United States Patent and Trademark Office have refused the request because of the "likelihood of confusion" with an existing brand.
Arizona firm Archetypes LLC sought exclusive use in 2015 for a series of books and articles about "nutrition, fitness, sexuality, psychological self-improvement" and more, according to the Daily Mail newspaper columnist Richard Eden.
In addition, Prince Harry and his wife both failed to sign their own application, a mistake Meghan also made when she applied last year to reactivate "The Tig" trademark, the name she had previously used for her lifestyle blog.
The couple's lawyer, Marjorie Witter Norman of Willkie, Farr + Gallagher, has applied for a three-month extension to work on the application.
The original request to trademark Archetypes - a word derived from ancient Greek that has been used for centuries and means the perfect original from which other things are copied - was "in the fields of cultural treatment of women and stereotypes facing women" and include podcasts, television programmes, DVDs, CDs and entertainment services distributed through satellite and cable TV, global computer networks, the internet, wireless devices, mobile applications, set-top boxes, webcasts and streaming media."
It was announced last week the "Archetypes" podcast had not been renewed by Spotify. In a joint statement to The New York Post, Spotify and Archewell Audio said they "mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together."
An Archewell Productions spokeswoman also added to The Wall Street Journal, "Meghan is continuing to develop more content for the Archetypes audience on another platform."
It comes after the podcast's producer, Rebecca Sananes, left her role.
The couple had inked a $20 million deal with the streaming giant back in 2020 - the same year they quit as senior members of the British Royal Family and became financially independent - however, they allegedly didn't make enough content to warrant being paid the sum originally agreed.
