Meghan Markle faces potential legal roadblocks in launch of own brand

The Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle could be facing multiple legal challenges in regards to her lifestyle brand, ‘As Ever’. Last week, the official As Ever Instagram account launched, giving fans a peek into what was to come for the label. However, it wasn’t long before more potential obstacles began to emerge.

The mayor of Porreres in Mallorca, Francisca Mora, first raised concerns regarding alleged similarities between As Ever’s logo and the coat of arms for the Spanish village, namely in the use of two hummingbirds facing a palm tree.

Mora told local newspaper Ara Balears that the town hall was mulling whether or not to take legal action. Sources for Page Six, however, claimed that the As Ever team had conducted “comprehensive global searches of registered trademarks” to avoid such crossovers.

And that isn’t all. In light of the name similarities to his family business, Mark Kolski, the owner of vintage clothing brand As Ever NYC, told the Daily Mail that he was “getting advice from as many professionals in the (legal field) to find out what to do to protect myself”.

Kolski then took to social media to express thanks for the “outpouring of support” for himself and As Ever NYC, a venture he began in 2015 initially as a side hobby before expanding into manufacturing in 2017.

It must be noted that Kolski doesn’t have a registered trademark for the name. The designer did, however, confirm to Vanity Fair that he was to continue making clothing under the ‘As Ever NYC’ label, adding: “I have no interest in having any public forum battle against this new venture.”

Meghan Markle and her associated company, As Ever, have not yet publicly responded to Kolski’s comments.

Initial efforts by Markle to launch a brand began in October 2022, when the former actress filed documents seeking permission to use the name, As Ever, for a selection of product categories, including clothing and kitchen accessories.

In July 2023, however, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) determined that ‘As Ever’ clashed with the name of a Chinese fashion label, Asever, which already manufactured garments under “clothing category Class 25” and worked with retailers like H&M.

The trademark was later approved after Markle opted to revise the application in January 2024, removing clothing from the brand’s list of products, The Mail on Sunday stated.

Such challenges had already come after Markle scrapped the name and concept of her previous venture, American Riviera Orchard (ARO), which also faced a number of trademark disputes.