When Rebranding Goes Double Wrong

In March 2024, actress and royal family member Meghan Markle returned to Instagram to pitch her new brand, American Riviera Orchard.

The name refers to Santa Barbara, California, where she and her family live. It was unclear what the brand would sell, but it quickly became identified with various jam products.

However, her trademark registration, which she filed in February 2024, quickly ran into serious problems. First, it was rejected over paperwork issues. After those were cleared up, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) rejected the trademark again since there were significant limitations on registering the names of geographic places.

Then, in October 2024, food company Harry & David filed a protest with the USPTO. They claimed that American Riviera Orchard could be confused with their trademark, Royal Riviera. The trademark is still under examination.

Given these and other problems with the name, it’s no surprise that Markle rebranded the company. On February 18, 2025, she announced the new brand name: As Ever.

However, that launch has not gone much better. If anything, it’s gone considerably worse.

When Branding Going Wrong… Twice

Two groups expressed displeasure with the new branding almost immediately after the announcement.

The first was the New York fashion brand As Ever, established in 2013 and launched in 2015 by Mark Kolski and Astrid Dahl, a husband-and-wife team. The duo became known for reworking military garments into fashionable hand-made clothes.

Representatives for Markle have said that this is not an issue for them. Since their brand doesn’t intend to sell clothes, no overlapping business interest exists.

However, it was then that Porreres, a village on the Spanish island of Majorca, claimed that the As Ever logo closely resembled their coat of arms.

The logo and the coat feature a centered palm tree with two birds facing it. However, there are also notable differences between the works. Ever’s logo is two-tone line art, whereas Porreres’ is more of a regular drawing. The birds are notably different, and the coat features land underneath the tree.

This hasn’t stopped Porreres mayor Xisca Mora from requesting the logo be removed from the As Ever site. Though she says they don’t have the money to take legal action, they would consider it if they did.

This has led to multiple people, including Mora, accusing Markle of “plagiarism.” But while it may not be plagiarism in the most accurate sense of the word, there is definitely an issue that needs to be addressed.

Analysis of the Allegations

Right off the bat, I don’t think the name or the logo violates any laws.

While the name perfectly matches an existing clothing brand, Markle’s company is in a different field. Companies can and do share the same name as long as they operate in different fields.

For example, Ace Bandages and Ace Hardware are separate trademarks with the Ace name. The same is true for Delta Airlines and Delta Faucets, Dove Beauty and Dove Chocolate, and a slew of other companies.

As long as they operate solely in different fields (or classes), the name isn’t likely to cause any confusion.

That said, it could become a problem if Markle’s company later pivots to fashion. This is what happened between Apple Computer and Apple Corps (the music company founded by the Beatles) in the early 2000s. The two had to rework their agreements as Apple Computer entered the music space with iTunes and other products.

With the logo, even though I can see why the village would be upset, there are many differences that they are ignoring. Between the different art styles, colors, shapes and uses, they would struggle to argue that anyone was confused.

Legally, Markle is likely in a strong position. But that isn’t the end of the story.

The Bigger Problem

The big problem is that Markle is not some small entrepreneur launching a local restaurant or store. She’s one of the most famous and controversial people on earth. Anything she does will have an outsized impact on those she overlaps with.

With that, I would argue, comes a greater sense of due diligence. She could have been more cognizant of these issues and ensured she wouldn’t step on any toes, intentionally or otherwise.

This is made even worse because of the reasons for the rebrand. She was rebranding because of issues with the original name, including similarity to a competitor. It would have made sense to be extra careful about this one.

To be clear, I don’t think Markle or anyone working for her did this intentionally. Nor do I believe they maliciously plagiarized or that the similarities are anything but coincidence. I believe that the idea was not adequately vetted before it was made public.

While that’s a bad mistake for any startup, it’s especially bad for Markle. Not only is she incredibly famous, but she is also very divisive. In the UK, she is one of the least-liked members of the royal family and has been the center of countless controversies over the years.

This is likely part of an effort to rehab her image. However, taking the names of a small fashion company or using a logo similar to a small Spanish village doesn’t help those efforts.

It’s an unforced error that has fed even more negative headlines.

Bottom Line

From a legal standpoint, there isn’t likely much here. But this isn’t really about the law.

As such a public figure, Markle comes across as a bully, using a small company’s name and village’s crest as her branding. While I don’t think that’s what happened, it’s the appearance and the feeling many got.

While it may be unfair, Markle will be held to a different standard than most business owners. That’s true of most celebrities, particularly divisive ones. People who dislike her will likely seek reasons to reinforce that feeling.

By making these mistakes, she’s just handing them those reasons. These were reasonably easy mistakes to avoid, and the previous trademark issues should have been a warning of the dangers.

In the end, while I think this is overblown, anything with Markle will be. The case is a reminder to always perform your due diligence when launching a new business or brand.

Even if you aren’t Markle, things can still go awry very quickly.