Meghan Markle's bid to trademark blog name is 'under examination'

Meghan’s lifestyle blog takes a step nearer rebirth: Duchess’s bid to trademark name ‘The Tig’ is ‘under examination’ more than 12 months after application was first made – and five years since she made ‘final’ post before announcing engagement to Harry

• Meghan Markle’s bid to trademark her lifestyle blog’s name is under examination
• The Duchess of Sussex used The Tig to reflect on the full spectrum of experience
• Meghan launched the blog in 2014 when she was an actress in the drama Suits 
• More than five-and-a-half years ago she posted a ‘final’ entry, announcing: ‘It’s time to say goodbye’ before she and Prince Harry announced their engagement

Meghan Markle’s lifestyle blog has taken a step nearer rebirth as the Duchess’s bid to trademark name ‘The Tig’ goes under examination more than 12 months after application was first made — and five years since she made ‘final’ post before announcing her engagement to Prince Harry.

The Duchess of Sussex used The Tig, her lifestyle blog, to reflect on the full spectrum of human experience — from hot sauces to self-love.

She often praised her mother Doria Ragland, a yoga therapist who was the only member of her family at her wedding, and father Thomas Markle, from whom she remains estranged. 

Her fans will be thrilled to hear The Tig is a step nearer resurrection, more than five-and-a-half years after Meghan, in a prelude to becoming a fully fledged member of ‘The Firm’, posted a ‘final’ entry, announcing: ‘It’s time to say goodbye.’ 

The Duchess of Sussex’s bid to trademark blog name ‘The Tig’ goes under examination more than 12 months after application was first made

Meghan’s bid to trademark ‘The Tig’ name is ‘under examination’ by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office — over a year after the initial application was submitted.

Six months ago, this appeared to be imperilled when the Patent & Trademark Office rejected the application, saying the description of the website was ‘too broad’ — and the paperwork was unsigned.

This has been rectified, with the assistance of an additional lawyer, Danielle Weiss.

The revised application scrupulously delineates five ‘classes’ in which Meghan is seeking The Tig trademark: travel, interior design (including ‘environmentally conscious living’), food preparation (including cooking and recipes), health and ‘wellness’, and personal relationships (including, rather surprisingly, fashion and personal lifestyle).

A fee of $1,750 [£1,500] has been paid for the application. 

Meghan launched the blog in 2014 when she was an actress in the legal drama Suits and named the site after her favourite Tignanello wine. 

Recalling her first sip, she wrote: ‘It was an ah-ha moment at its finest. For me it became a ‘Tig’ moment – a moment of getting it.’ 

When Meghan closed down her lifestyle blog in April 2017 before announcing her engagement to Prince Harry later that year, she described it as a ‘passion project’ that ‘evolved into an amazing community of inspiration, support, fun and frivolity’. 

It was once filled with her favourite recipes, candid holiday snaps, inspirational words of wisdom and gushing eulogies to her parents. 

Meghan launched the blog in 2014 when she was an actress in the legal drama Suits and named the site after her favourite Tignanello wine. Above, Meghan sips Tignanello, which led to The Tig

Publicly available records in America show Los Angeles lawyer Marjorie Witter Norman filed a new application to trademark the name in July last year. 

Miss Witter Norman filed the trademark application under a Delaware-based holding company called Frim Fram Inc, which links back to the Duchess’s business manager Andrew Meyer.

A similar application filed in 2019 would have expired last year. 

At the time her representative said: ‘The lasting trademark is to prevent false branding, to avoid others purporting to be the Duchess or affiliated with her.’ 

Meghan used the original Tig website – parts of which can still be found online – to share her views on everything from feminism to her passion for philanthropy.

An avid foodie, she also shared recipes and interviews with friends including tennis star Serena Williams and actress Priyanka Chopra.

Should she ever relaunch the blog – or start a new one – it could be worth a fortune through partnerships with fashion, food and beauty brands, according to a Hollywood marketing expert.

Perhaps Meghan could seek to apply The Tig trademark to her own range of goods — an $18 neon toilet roll set, perhaps, or a $28,500 black leather chair, both of which appear on the Christmas list of fellow Montecito resident Gwyneth Paltrow.

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