Meghan Markle tries to trademark the word 'archetype' for title of her podcast

Meghan is trying to trademark the name of her new podcast. Photo / Getty Images

Meghan Markle is trying to trademark the word "archetypes" for the title of her new Spotify podcast.

She applied at the US Patent and Trademark Office last month for the exclusive use of the word, which derives from Greek and first became part of the English language around the 1540s, reports the Daily Mail.

The list of goods and services in the application include anything "in the fields of cultural treatment of women and stereotypes facing women".

These can include anything from TV, podcasts, DVDs or entertainment services distributed through cable or satellite TV, computer networks, the internet, and streaming media.

The application was made by Archewell Audio, owned by Harry and Meghan and based in Delaware. It would mean they own the trademark rather than Spotify, which paid them millions in 2020 to secure the deal.

Meanwhile, Markle could face legal challenges from companies that use the word in their names - such as skincare and cleaning products business Archetypes, which already established a trademark.

Meghan and Harry have a multi-million-dollar deal with Spotify. Photo / Getty Images

It's similar to the linguistic battle fought by Victoria Beckham in 2002. She tried to prevent the football team Peterborough United from trademarking their nickname "Posh", as the word was "inexorably associated" with her Spice Girls persona.

The Archewell Foundation has announced that the Sussexes' Spotify podcast is set to debut in a few months' time. It comes just two months after Meghan and Harry called on the streaming service to crack down on Covid misinformation peddled by podcaster Joe Rogan.

On the podcast, Markle will speak to historians, experts and women who have experienced being typecast.

In a trailer for the project, she said, "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 and defining our lives?"