Prince Harry’s Invictus charity has lost a trademark battle with an Italian fashion company to use its logo on clothing.
An application made by duke’s Invictus Games Foundation, but was opposed by Italian brand Invicta – most prominently known for its backpacks.
Andrew Lomas, representing the charity, told a hearing in London that Harry’s ‘fame’ had ensured that Invictus will now always be associated with royalty, The Times reports.
He said: ‘Such is the fame and repute of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, that conceptually Invictus will now automatically bring to mind the [charity], royalty and or wounded injured and sick servicemen and servicewomen.’
Harry founded the Invictus Games following a trip the Warrior Games in the US in 2013 – a competition introducing wounded, ill and injured service personnel to Paralympic-style sports.
The following year, the inaugural Invictus Games took place in London.
Harry and Meghan Markle both appeared at the most recent Games in the Netherlands in April.
Invicta argued that that the similarities between their logo and that of Invictus would confuse members of the public
Evidence given to the tribunal included a banner reading ‘I am Invictus’ that was displayed when Harry handed out an award at the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year in 2014 (above)
Prince Harry holds an item of baby clothing with the Invictus Games logo during a presentation in May 2019
Evidence given to the hearing included a banner reading ‘I am Invictus’ that was displayed when Harry handed out an award at the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year in 2014.
Also shown to the tribunal was an image of Harry and brother William holding a baby wearing a t-shirt with ‘I am an Invictus baby’ written across it.
But Invicta argued that the similarities between the logos would confuse the public.
The fashion company, founded in 1906 initially to produce military bags, said members of the public are ‘likely to be understood as constituting alternative versions of the same Latin-derived word’.
In a ruling last month, tribunal hearing office Leisa Davies said a shopper who saw the word Invictus would not automatically connect it with Harry’s charity.
She highlighted how common letters within the two logos meant there was a ‘likelihood of confusion’.
Ms Davies subsequently reject Invictus’ application and ordered the charity to pay £1,600 towards the fashion company’s costs.
The defeat comes as Meghan is understood to be facing trouble in her attempts to trademark the historic word ‘archetypes’ after announcing that her first series of podcasts for audio streaming giant Spotify would be titled under the same name.
The Duchess of Sussex made the application at the United States Patent and Trademark Office earlier this year, which covers the use of ‘archetypes’, a word which derives from ancient Greek and first entered into English usage around the 1540s.
The Queen also stepped in to prevent the couple from using their ‘Sussex Royal’ label after they decided to step down as working royals in 2020.
Harry and Meghan pictured at the most recent Invictus Games in The Hague, The Netherlands, in April
Following lengthy and complex talks, Her Majesty and senior officials are believed to have agreed it was no longer tenable for the couple to keep the word ‘royal’ in their ‘branding’.
The Sussexes had spent tens of thousands of pounds on a new Sussex Royal website to complement their hugely popular Instagram feed.
Today they joined royals including William and Kate to watch Trooping the Colour from the Major General’s Office overlooking the Whitehall parade ground.
An animated Meghan appeared to playfully ‘shush’ a group of young royals as they stood at a window overlooking the parade, while Harry was later seen mimicking the gesture in a separate photo.
Their appearance, a first official royal engagement in more than two years, ended months of speculation on whether they would attend the celebrations.
However, they were absent when the Queen, Prince Charles, the Cambridges and their children watched the flypast from the Buckingham Palace balcony, while children Archie and Lilibet were also not seen.
