
A Filipino entrepreneur has found himself in legal crosshairs after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle disputed the name of his deodorant product.
The royal couple is questioning the trademark of the deodorant's name, “Archewell Harvatera,”--a line of tawas (alum) deodorants--as it shares the name of their organization named Archewell, which runs a charity and media group.
Prince Harry and Meghan's representative, Cobblestone Lane LLC, has reached out to businessman, Victor Martin Soriano, stating its intention to “file an opposition” against the use of the name.
Records show that Soriano filed his application for the name in July 2020 in the Philippines.
It was in April of last year when the royal couple announced the launch of their non-profit organization inspired by their son, Archie Harrison.
Soriano, however, is not backing down and has presented photos of the documents on Twitter proving that the name of the product is duly registered in the Philippines.
He has previously said defiantly that “the Philippines is not a British colony" and that “English laws don't work here” in response to the legal action.
The businessman has reportedly told the online newspaper, The Irish Sun, that he is willing to “fight to the death” just to retain the name.
“If the Queen asks me to withdraw, I will do it promptly, no questions asked. But Meghan, we call her the Wicked Witch of the West,” he told the publication.
“We're really nice people here. This affects me but I'm willing to fight to the death out of principle.”
Soriano mentioned at the time of the interview that he's still waiting for the response from Prince Harry and Meghan's legal team.
“There will be a showdown. Gosh, I already feel like Roxi Hart [on trial] in Chicago,” he said.
“I think I should win because I'm a small guy from a poor small country about to be swallowed by a greedy monster. I must succeed in this fight.”
Meanwhile, an article that appeared on World Trademark Review weighed in on the actions taken by the royal couple.
Lee Curtis, a trademark lawyer, said that the husband and wife team might have seen something about the issue that is worth pursuing.
“One could take a zero-tolerance policy and oppose all applications identical or similar to Archewell, but sometimes it is best to choose your battles, otherwise one can get bogged down in numerous challenges,” said Curtis.
“An assessment can be made whether an application is truly a bad-faith filing and how an applicant potentially using a brand might prompt a view that some applicants and applications are more problematic than others,” he continued.
“This might have been an assessment applied to the Archewell Harvatera trademark.”