Meghan Markle facing new nightmare with $18M project, here's what we know

Meghan Markle’s podcast Archetypes is directly linked to the Sussex couple’s Archewell organization founded in 2020. Harry and Meghan’s audio company Archewell Audio filed an application in the United States Patent and Trademark Office last year to have ‘exclusive’ right over the title Archetypes.

Meghan Markle faces Spotify podcast nightmare

According to Newsweek, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's request to trademark the word 'Archetypes' was rejected by the United States Patent and Trademark Office on 18 January 2023. This comes as the trademark office suggests that Meghan’s proposed trademark of ‘Archetypes’ is ‘identical in appearance, sound, and meaning,’ to the one held by U.S.-based Project Miracle IP Holdings.

Harry and Meghan have until 18 April 2023 to pursue the application, extend it or completely abandon it. If no response is filed by the deadline, ‘the mark will be deemed to have been ‘abandoned.’ Alternatively, if the Sussexes are adamant about keeping the trademark, they will have to provide solid arguments to persuade the examiner that there’s no likelihood of confusion anywhere.

Even in the case that Meghan fails to obtain the trademark, the podcast could still go ahead with the same name. However, the current holder has the right to intervene and take infringement action if they remain concerned about the usage of their mark that was registered in May 2018.

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Meghan Markle’s Archetypes

After its much-awaited release in 2022, Meghan Markle’s Archetypes took down The Joe Rogan Experience as the top podcast on Spotify in the US in just two days.

Forbes reported that an exclusive three-year podcast deal with Spotify was estimated to be worth $18 million.

Archetypes - a podcast that ‘investigates, dissects, and subverts the labels’ that hold women back - has been running since August 2022.

Meghan has been in conversation with powerful personalities like Serena Williams, Mariah Carey, Mindy Kaling, Margaret Cho, Lisa Ling, Deepika Padukone, Paris Hilton, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, Trevor Noah and more in a total of 13 episodes so far.

The last episode was released in November 2022 with Trevor Noah and it has yet to be disclosed when fans can expect episodes in 2023.

Read more: Prince Harry and Meghan confirm invitation for King’s coronation but leave out crucial detail

Sources used:

Newsweek: Meghan Markle Suffers Legal Blow Over Her Podcast

Forbes: Meghan Markle’s ‘Archetypes’ Podcast Unseats Joe Rogan For Top Spot On Spotify

Spotify: Archetypes Podcast