The application has been lodged at the US Patent and Trademark Office by Archewell Audio, a company set up by the Duchess and Prince Harry
Meghan Markle is attempting to trademark the word “archetypes” – the name of her first Spotify podcast series – it is claimed.
The application for exclusive use of the word was made at the at the US Patent and Trademark Office last month by Archewell Audio, one of the companies established by Meghan and Prince Harry.
The list of goods and services involved are “in the fields of cultural treatment of women and stereotypes facing women” and include podcasts, TV shows, and entertainment services distributed in various ways, the Daily Mail reports.
If the patent is approved, the couple will own the trademark rather than Spotify.
The Duchess may face a legal challenges from other companies that use the name as their titles, such as skincare brand Archetypes, which has already been trademarked.
“Archetype” is thought to have been first used in the English language around the 1540s, and is derived from ancient Greek.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word as “the original pattern or model from which copies are made; a prototype”.
Archetypes are also a key concept in the psychology of C G Jung, and refer to a pervasive idea, image, or symbol that forms part of the collective unconscious.
The podcast series will see the Duchess investigating “labels that try to hold women back” and speaking to historians, experts and women who have experienced being typecast.
The couple signed a deal estimated to be worth around $25 million (about £19 million) to host and produce podcasts on Spotify in late 2020 – but received widespread criticism in January for continuing to work with the platform over concerns it was spreading Covid-19 misinformation.
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