Re-branding - a costly exercise
Meghan & Harry are rebranding and this is something that is costing them a huge amount of money. (Written in 2020, by me Céleste).
Meghan and Harry had already spent tens of thousands of pounds trade marking Sussex Royal, and currently use the name on their Instagram page and website. However there was a block on it via a legal complaint from an Australian man.
The Duke & Duchess of Sussex were keen to use their Royal brand to create a foundation and to make money off of the Royal Brand through clothes and other merchandise and were using that on their Instagram and website.
The Queen has denied them that possibility despite having said earlier that they could hang on to the word Royal. They have not lost “HRH” prefix that is used to signify that someone is a member of the Royal family, however they will not be using this anymore because they are no longer working members of the family as of spring 2020.
On top of all that, as mentioned above, they have a trade mark battle to fight, something that is likely to take at least one year if not more. They had invested everything into that brand, so that is going to be a very costly exercise for them.
As we know they had wanted to be half in and half out, as working Royals and that is not acceptable to the institution Harry was born into, the Queen has on the other hand said that they still are »much-loved« members of her family however »If they aren’t carrying out official duties and are now seeking other commercial opportunities, they simply cannot be allowed to market themselves as royals«.
The charitable organisation will still go ahead, despite not being able to be branded Sussex Royal, further more the couple will no longer have offices at Buckingham Palace at the end of March 2020, they will step down from all official duties as well.
The lesson in this is that when you want to trade mark something you have to make absolutely sure that you are actually allowed to use the mark. It’s not only the royals that can come under pressure and end up spending an awful lot of money in a trade mark battle and then afterwards on the rebranding exercise. Due diligence is key, meaning that you have to seek advice if and when in doubt.
If you don’t know how to find out whether something you desire using as your trademark is available to you to use, contact someone like me, so that we may help prevent you from wasting time, money and energy on something that could have been avoided in the first place.
If you need help with regard to trade mark registration, due diligence and such legal matters please contact me by filling out the contact form here: https://www.grandipr.dk/contact