It's Over: Meghan Markle Gives Up Her Long-Running Bid to 'Trademark' the Word 'Archetypes' After Podcast Failure

Meghan Markle has finally come to terms with the failure of her podcast, "Archetypes." The audio program was dumped by Spotify in June, and it took the Duchess of Sussex an additional three months to officially withdraw a trademark application. The former actress was trying to patent the word on the basis that it referred to the "cultural treatment of women and stereotypes facing women" within the context of the series.

Meghan's original attempt to trademark the show was denied the same month it was officially axed. The patent office said it was turning the request down based on a "likelihood of confusion" with another brand that used the word in a similar context.

The joint effort between the audio giant and the rogue royal was originally hyped to be a major new project in the health and wellness space.

"This is 'Archetypes' — the podcast where we dissect, explore, and subvert the labels that try to hold women back," the Duchess originally stated about the program. "This is how we talk about women: the words that raise our girls, and how the media reflects women back to us. But where do these stereotypes come from? And how do they keep showing up in defining our lives?"

Despite attracting big-name celebrity guests and acclaimed authors, the 13-episode talkfest also courted controversy before the show even hit the airwaves. In early 2022, Meghan and Prince Harry spoke out against fellow Spotify star Joe Rogan, who, at the time was accused of spreading misinformation.

"Since the inception of Archewell, we have worked to address the real-time global misinformation crisis. Hundreds of millions of people are affected by the serious harms of rampant mis- and disinformation every day. Last April, our co-founders began expressing concerns to our partners at Spotify about the all too real consequences of COVID-19 misinformation on its platform," Harry and Meghan's message read.

"We have continued to express our concerns to Spotify to ensure changes to its platform are made to help address this public health crisis. We look to Spotify to meet this moment and are committed to continuing our work together as it does."

Despite high listening numbers in its first round of episodes upon its release in August of that year, the show placed in the 20th percentile as it concluded its debut (and only) season in November.

After the series' cancellation, the Duchess of Sussex fell out of favor with many in Hollywood.

"She can’t believe she’s been attacked so viciously and so publicly by one of their execs, and to be labeled 'grifters' is an utterly humiliating and gut-wrenching all-time low — it’s served as a brutal reality check that things really do need to change to save their popularity," a Sussex insider said at the time.

Daily Express reported on the trademark request withdrawal.