Meghan Markle faces another setback over her As Ever brand

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For now, it looks like Meghan Markle will have to focus on selling her signature products.

As reported by DailyMail.com, Markle’s plans to launch a clothing line under her new “As Ever” brand have hit a snag. The issue? The name bears too much resemblance to an already established Chinese clothing company, blocking her from moving forward in that direction.

Legal filings reveal that her legal team filed a request with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) back in October 2022, aiming to trademark “As Ever” for various items, including aprons. However, it appears she won’t be able to expand into apparel just yet.

It is reported over the weekend that her brand proposal was initially rejected as it’s too similar to the name of a Chinese clothing company.

However, their trademark application faced a “partial rejection” in July 2023, ruling that the Duchess of Sussex could not sell clothing under that name due to its close resemblance to the Chinese brand ASEVER.

ASEVER, a Shenzhen-based company, supplies products to major retailers like H&M.

“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 rejection notice stated.

Markle, who launched As Ever this month, filed for the trademark in 2022.

In January 2024, before submitting a revised application, Markle removed any references to clothing—an update that eventually led to its approval.

While she isn’t completely restricted from selling apparel, she would need to register under a different brand name if she intends to do so.

On February 18, Markle revealed that she was rebranding her American Riviera Orchard line, officially renaming it “As Ever.”

She explained in a video that she felt the name limited her options.

The rebrand comes just a month before the release of her Netflix show, “With Love, Meghan.”

After acknowledging that a series of trademark challenges had forced her to make the change, she shared in an Instagram video, “Last year, I had thought, ‘You know what? 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.”

While discussing her upcoming Netflix series, With Love, Meghan, she revealed that she ultimately chose the new name after the streaming platform became more than just a collaborator on the show. “They came on, not just as my partner in the show but as my partner in business, which was huge.”