Harry and Meghan’s bid to trademark Sussex Royal and turn it into a billion-dollar empire blocked after complaint
A legal complaint from a man in Australia has reportedly blocked Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's attempt to trademark their Sussex Royal brand.
While the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are keen to cash in on their royal brand by launching a foundation of the namesake and selling branded goods like hoodies and postcards, the Queen is yet to decide whether they can still use their HRH titles for profit, The Sun reports.
But now, a doctor in Australia has launched legal opposition to the desired trademark.
A formal "notice of threatened opposition" against the Sussexes was registered this week, as per documents at the Government’s Intellectual Property Office.
The notice means Harry and Meghan may have to bear legal fees and other costs to win the right to use their royal brand in the UK.
The man behind the opposition is Benjamin Worcester of Victoria, Australia, who reportedly worked as a doctor in the NHS from 2011 to 2014 and studied medicine at the University College London. Having said that, it is yet to be established why he decided to file the opposition. However, it is yet to be asserted why did Worcester decide to do so.
According to the report, there is a period of "opposition" after registering a trademark. The window allows anyone against the use of the trademark to raise an objection and thereby challenge the approval of the trademark.
Although opponents may not eventually object to the trademark, the window gives them time to mount a case against its use.
That said, the period of opposition for Harry and Meghan's application was previously due to end on February 20. But due to the notice, that period is now extended until at least March 20.
“Filing a notice of threatened opposition is relatively easy and can be done online for free," Lee Curtis, a chartered trademark attorney, and partner at specialist law firm HGF told The Sun. “The filing of a formal notice of opposition is much more involved."
“Right now, the threatened opposition delays the progress of the Sussex Royal application by at least one month, but if a formal opposition is ultimately mounted, this will involve the payment of an opposition fee, the drafting of formal grounds of opposition and the filing of evidence and legal submissions in support of the opposition," Curtis explained.
“The whole opposition could take at least a year to get to a decision and is thus not an action entered into lightly with a possible costs award against the losing party," he added.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex reportedly trademarked more than 100 items including pencils and socks about six months ago. However, it is yet to be seen if they will be able to use the royal brand after stepping away from the monarchy in their quest to become financially independent.