This week you have probably noticed some news around the new podcast Meghan Markle has planned to launch soon and her attempt to trademark the centuries-old word “Archetypes”. She signed a deal with Spotify back in 2020 and now is trying to trademark the word at USPTO on her own before the podcast launches this summer. Some news headlines were quite misleading though, claiming that nobody else can use the “archetypes” word. They mention that the word derives from Greek and appeared in English since the 1500s but make it sound like someone that gets a trademark will actually own the word. For those unfamiliar with trademark law, this type of trademark is called arbitrary trademark.

Fanciful trademarks are made up words which are then trademarked. As an example you can think of Kodak, Verizon, Lexus etc. Arbitrary trademarks on the other side are real words, but they represent trademarks or service marks that consist of a word or symbol that has nothing to do with the products or services being offered. Apple is one famous example as arbitrary trademark. To go back to the Meghan’s trademark, the application specifies "in the fields of cultural treatment of women and stereotypes facing women". This means that not only the word can be used by others, but also the word can be trademarked again, provided that they will not sell products or services in the same field.