Meghans trademark not allowed

[Viviennemary]

The patent office apparently has turned down the trademark of Meghans new jam making business American Riviera Orchard on the grounds that you can't trademark geographical locations. You would have thought somebody would have picked up on this before now.

I have to say H&M have taught me a lot about all sorts of random things - trademarks, letters patent, the history of various newspapers, the origins of Goop, KFC, the tensile strength of dog bowls...

Every day is a school day with those two!

the tensile strength of dog bowls
😂

Can you imagine how they’d fare on Dragons’ Den? They’d have them for breakfast 😅

Meghan doesn’t seem like a novice she invested in many small firms , clearly they have lawyers , financial advisers helping them out,

AS for the name American Riviera , Williams Sonoma uses the location Sonoma California in their brand, so I don’t understand why They can’t use the name American Riviera?

Why do I keep reading ARO as ARSO? 🤔

Because neither they, the company, nor the goods they propose to sell have any connection to the American Riviera (ie Santa Barbara).

You can only use a place name if you have a clear connection to it. MM doesn't

(To go back to KFC, they had trademarked it, and it was their genuine place of origin. They changed to KFC at the time the Commonwealth got arsey about its own trademarking, and the KFC name was essentially doing an "artist formerly known as" during the legal battle that ensued. Parties settled in 2001, and KFC can continue to call itself by its original trademarked name if it so wishes)

AS for the name American Riviera , Williams Sonoma uses the location Sonoma California in their brand, so I don’t understand why They can’t use the name American Riviera?

I don’t know a great deal about Williams Sonoma itself, but do know that lots of companies use a geographical location with their trademarked name because it adds the cachet or aesthetic they want to associate with their brand. So, “Rimmel London” and “Burberry London” as examples. Lots of companies put “Paris” with their name and also “New York”, and other places as well - there are loads of examples.

The companies can’t trademark the geographical designation though because they can’t stop other companies from labelling their goods with London/New York/Paris etc. The “Burberry” and “Rimmel” parts will be trademarked, but not the place name. It becomes a trading style (i.e. a name you use to operate a business, or a section of your business) rather than a trade mark.

In Meghan’s case “American Rivera Orchard” is the actual name of her brand and what she’s looking to trademark. That’s not possible, it seems. If she wanted to call is “Meghan’s Orchard - American Riviera” she could trademark the “Meghan’s Orchard” segment and trade under the full name - but she can’t legally own the full name.

They can, they just can't copyright it and prevent others using American Riviera o

or at least that's how I think it works

So far and including the withdrawn SussexRoyal brand I make it

Failed trademarks : 3

Rachel (with Harold off the bench once) : nil

The wedding was apparently a spectacle for us masses. Personally I'm far more entertained by this gormless ineptitude 😂

Thanks for the very interesting info with regards to the trademarking laws. I think that a lot of young people (including my own kids) wouldn’t have a clue what KFC stands for so they’ve successfully rebranded.
I guess that professional sports teams have their league owners making sure that team name abuses don’t happen. For example Yankees wouldn’t be used by another sports team based in another city.

Thank you all for clearing things, makes sense.

going back to Why Williams sonoma can still use the location name Sonoma valley California , the founder sold branded french cookware and such , so nothing was made in Sonoma valley , but the shop was known as Williams of Sonoma.
Meghan wants to manufacture her own products , so surely Someone must have raised this way back before the launch? This whole venture would have been up and running by now if it only had a different name.

Moom Pooh.

you’re welcome

This whole venture would have been up and running by now if it only had a different name.

Wouldn't it need some actual products to sell?

And who 'launches' a business with no products and no trademark? The layers of incompetence are epic. As @CathyorClaire said above, this is superb free entertainment.

Terrible choice with names - including the absolutely disgraceful use of Lilibet .... glaringly chosen for trying to cozy up to the queen,

They used the Queen's private nickname, but they couldn't spare a few days to visit her at Balmoral in what everyone could see was likely to be her last summer.

I feel sorry for Lilibet, forever having to explain her name as she grows up, She should change it as soon as she can. Elizabeth Sussex flows nicely and is anonymous.

Surely by this point even her legendary thick skin is feeling the warmth of a hot blush? I’d be so embarrassed if I were these two. Fail, fail, fail.

Just call it Riviera Orchard. The original is far too long. There, I’ve sorted that for you Meg and Hazza

"Meg'n'Hazza"!
Even better!

@EigerTheTiger - Moom Pooh is a bit long ... could shorten it to
MooPoo

Oh wait, that sounds like bull shit 💩 .... perfect!

I thought it was a quarter of a billion dollars donated, but out of curiosity I checked. Newman's Own Foundation has donated $600,000,000 since 1982. I do remember reading that they like to donate to smaller local charities which must submit a plan for how they will use the money. The example I read was a charity in Melbourne that was given money to buy and maintain a van that enabled them to collect and take excess food to where it was needed.

There are plenty of initials to choose from making all kinds of interesting words...
Prince Sussex
Wales Sussex
Meghan Wales
Meghan Sussex

The one I would go for if this were a serious proposition is. Meghan Rachel. MOOR. It would be a talking point because the pronunciation is supposed to be MOOORE. Maybe even spell it this way.

NOT WALES!!!
Gerroff us!

Only slight problem is that her name is Rachel Meghan. Although RooM would be quite good if it hasn’t been used by anyone else 🤷‍♀️

The shop was physically in Sonoma and only in Sonoma in its early years, so that would be my guess as to why it was permitted, in combination with his name being fairy common, thus distinguishing him from other Williams businesses. It's possible that could still happen today, geographic names are restricted not banned completely. And of course Williams Sonoma began in the 1950s when the rules might have been less tough.

Meghan's application at present can show no links to the American Riviera - neither she nor it are based there nor are they already trading there (as Williams was in Sonoma was in its early years), nor is she selling goods made there. Using an unconnected place name is potentially misleading and is not allowed.

I thought this was a really good solution @Thedom but then Google informs me that Aro can be variously

• a UK credit broker
• a subgroup of the Nigerian Igbo people
• those who are a-romantic
• one of the leaders of the Volturi, the dominant vampire coven in Twilight

I'm sure this is far from an exhaustive list

Tricky this name thing, isn't it?

Ah ok. I just thought of another problem with MOOR. The Moors were conquerors of Spain. RooM sounds good but must be taken. And this is why people are paid serious money to come up with brand names.

Just thought of one to appeal to the US market due to pronunciation. DooK.