Duchess Meghan is facing a dispute over both the As Ever brand name and logo, just days after its launch.
On February 19, a small business with a similar name to the Duchess of Sussex's As Ever, the New York and New Jersey-based clothing studio As Ever NYC, said it would take action to protect its trademark. "I was made aware of this on the morning of February 17. I had no prior knowledge. We have no connection to Meghan Markle whatsoever," said Mark Kolski, designer and owner of As Ever NYC.
Kolski revealed that no one from Meghan's team contacted him before she publicly rebranded. He only learned about it through friends. "I'm still reeling from the attention I've received," he told the Mail. "I'm taking advice. I'm a very small brand but I have a lot of awareness," Kolski said.
Kolski’s As Ever NYC, founded in 2017 in New York state, is the top result on Google when searching for the term, raising further questions about why the Duchess of Sussex didn’t discover it. The Kolski studio’s Instagram page even features some of the Duchess’ favorite white shirts.
On Instagram, As Ever NYC also reposts stories from friends, followers, and customers who publicly support small businesses. They seem to be sending a message that Kolski’s As Ever brand is “unique.”
Not only that, the mayor of the town of Porreres in Mallorca, Spain, is considering suing Meghan over her new As Ever brand logo, which bears a striking resemblance to the town's emblem. According to Ara Balears on February 18, Porreres Mayor Xisca Mora "is studying the case with legal services to consider taking action at the municipal level." While considering her legal options, Mora is concerned about the attention Markle's logo could bring to the small town of about 5,000 people. "Many people around the world will know that a small town in Mallorca has this emblem. We suddenly feel that we are also international. It's strange."
The Porreres logo features a palm tree in the middle and two birds flying towards it. The Duchess of Sussex's logo is almost identical, except that it is black and white and it is unclear whether the two birds are the same species.
Despite the plagiarism accusations, the logo is said to have special meaning for the Sussexes. In August 2022, Meghan told the Cut that the palm tree was "one of the first things" Harry saw when they first walked around their $14 million mansion in Montecito, California. "My love, that's us," Meghan said of Harry referring to the two palm trees. She also revealed that her son, Prince Archie, now 5, walks past the palm trees every day and says, "Hi, Mum. Hi, Dad."
For his part, Harry wrote about them in his memoir Spare, in memory of Queen Elizabeth II. The 40-year-old prince believes that the hummingbirds represent the spirit of his late grandmother, who visited his home after her death.
Meghan's rebranding comes just two weeks before the launch of her Netflix show With Love, Meghan and Her Lifestyle Products. The previous name, American Riviera Orchard, was met with backlash. The owner of Royal Riviera, which makes similar products to what the Duchess of Sussex plans to sell, sent a letter to the US Trademark Office saying there was a risk of confusion between the two brands.
However, in an Instagram post, Meghan claimed the rebrand was to sell the products more widely, beyond the area around her home in Santa Barbara, which is known as the "American Riviera." The Suits star also claimed to have "registered" the name "As Ever" in 2022, but public records tell a different story. In 2022, Meghan's representatives formed a company called "2022 Trademarks LLC" in Delaware. However, Meghan only filed to trademark "As Ever" last September.