Meghan Markle makes a bid to trademark ancient word 'Archetypes' ahead of her podcast debut

Meghan Markle has filed to trademark the historic word ‘archetypes’ after announcing that her debut series of podcasts for audio streaming giant Spotify would be titled the same. According to Daily Mail, the 40-year-old Duchess of Sussex applied at the United States Patent and Trademark Office on 26 March, 2022. The application covers the exclusive use of the word which derives from ancient Greek and was introduced to the English language in 1540s. The list of goods and services includes anything in the fields of cultural treatment of women and stereotypes facing women. The application was issued by Archewell Audio which is established by Harry and Meghan and is based in Delaware. Harry and Meghan also named their umbrella company Archewell after their son Archie. Archewell Audio will hold the trademark rather than Spotify as they paid them a rumoured 18 million euros in 2020 to seal the deal. Meanwhile, Meghan Markle could face a legal challenge from companies that use the word in their names and already have an established trademark, such as the skincare product business Archetypes. In 2002, the former pop singer Victoria Beckham fought a similar linguistic battle to prevent the Championship football team Peterborough United from trademarking their nickname ‘Posh’. Archewell Studio has declared that the podcast series hosted by Meghan Markle will debut this summer, 18 months after the lucrative deal with Spotify. “This is how we talk about women: the words that raise our girls, and how the media reflects women to us,” Markle said in the trailer of the podcast. “But where do these stereotypes come from? And how do they keep showing up and defining our lives?” she further added. In each episode of the series, Meghan Markle will speak to historians, experts and women who have experienced being typecast to dissect, explore and subvert the labels that try to hold women back.