EXCLUSIVE: Raging Meghan Markle Threatens to Sack Lawyer Marjorie Norman Witter After She Fails to Bag Simple Trademark for Posh Jelly Line
Embarrassed Meghan Markle has threatened to fire her high-powered lawyer after the attorney 'made her a laughing stock'.
Embarrassed Meghan Markle has threatened to fire her high-powered lawyer after the attorney "made her a laughing stock" over her desire to create her own jelly, and dog treats empire.
The Duchess of Sussex, currently facing increased rumors her marriage to Prince Harry is on the rocks, has a burning ambition to ape Gwyneth Paltrow's $250million Goop lifestyle empire, but so far all she's knocked out is a few jars of jelly, and some pooch biscuits for her pals in well-heeled Montecito, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
She wants to trademark her brand called American Riviera Orchard but so far her attempts have failed due to embarrassing blunders by her legal team at her Mama Knows Best LLC parent firm.
And this week she blew her top at yet another delay with a source telling us: "Meghan is furious at the delays which have been going on for months.
Markle is on the warpath over bungled attempts to trademark her lifestyle brand Stateside.
"She feels she has been made a laughing stock amongst the California elite because she can't even get a simple trademark over the line without basic errors. Now she's threatened to sack her team if they don't get her brand trademarked.
"All she has got to show for her efforts is a few pots of jelly, bags of dog treats, and a whole heap of embarrassment right now and she wants this to change and pronto."
This week she begged for more time to get her stuttering lifestyle brand off the ground.
Her legal team led by Marjorie Witter Norman has asked the US authorities for an extension in attempts to secure a trademark for her American Riviera Orchard brand.
A source said: 'Meghan has been made a laughing stock amongst the California elite because she can't even get a simple trademark over the line without basic errors.'
A legal document issued just days ago now grants her a total of six months to address the errors and challenges to the application and if the deadline is missed the trademark will be deemed dead.
A note reveals: "The following extension request is submitted for application Serial Number: 98441826 AMERICAN RIVIERA ORCHARD "Applicant requests a three-month extension of time to file the response under 37 C.F.R. §2.62(a)(2), which will extend the response deadline to six months from the issue date of the Office action. Only one extension can be requested per Office action."
She first lodged documents with the US Patent and Trademark Office earlier this year.
But first, she suffered an embarrassing blow in a bid to trademark her new homewares empire because she didn't fill in the official forms correctly or send enough cash.
Markle suffered an embarrassing blow in a bid to trademark her new homewares empire because she didn't fill in the official forms correctly or send enough cash.
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And, remarkably, the application wasn't even signed.
Then came a setback regarding ARO's trademark in the form of a "protest" to USPTO by a firm owning the trademark "Royal Riviera".
Official papers said: "The owner, Harry & David, is an American institution, founded in 1934, with annual sales of £1.7 billion and 3,300 staff."
It added that the protest was "deemed relevant" due to "likelihood of confusion" and has already been referred to USPTO's examining attorney, Marco Wright.
Her team applied to the US Patent and Trademark Office in March for legal protection to exclusively trade using the name American Riviera Orchard.
Markle’s team applied to the US Patent and Trademark Office in March for legal protection to exclusively trade using the name American Riviera Orchard.
She was then told she couldn't have exclusive rights to American Riviera because it is a commonly used place name used to describe the California coast.
Experts at the government department spent weeks poring over the papers and rejected the application on a raft of grounds.
These also include: "Applying to market goods in 19 different classes but only sending enough cash to cover 17 trading groups. Applications to sell items like gardening equipment, household goods, soap dispensers, and linen were too broad and must be clarified."
The original papers were unverified because they weren't signed by Markle or her team. Her office was told to send another $677 to cover the shortfall.
Markle was told she couldn't have exclusive rights to American Riviera because it is a commonly used place name used to describe the California coast.
Correspondence from the USPTO seen by us reveals: "The application identifies goods and/or services that are classified in at least 19 classes; however, applicant submitted fees sufficient for only 17 classes.
"Applicant must either submit the filing fees for the classes not covered by the submitted fees or restrict the application to the number of classes covered by the fees already paid."The letter added: "The application was unsigned because the applicant did not provide a signature. Thus, the application is not properly verified."Officials said on the use of American Riviera:
"The purchasing public would be likely to believe that the goods or services originate in the geographic place identified in the mark because the attached evidence shows that the applicant's founder, i.e., Meghan Markle, resides in the geographic place identified in the mark.
"Applicant may respond to this issue by submitting a disclaimer in the following format: No claim is made to the exclusive right to use“AMERICAN RIVIERA” apart from the mark as shown."
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