U.S. officials sink Harry’s ‘vague’ plan for charity

AS THE Duke of Sussex’s relationships with his father, his brother and, indeed, his country have remorselessly deteriorated, he’s had the consolation that the charities he established here continue to flourish.

But today, during a fleeting visit to London, when he’ll give a reading at St Paul’s Cathedral celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Invictus Games, might he give a concerned backwards glance at California?

I ask because his other great charitable venture, Sentebale, founded in 2006 to help vulnerable African children, has, I can disclose, fallen into trademark difficulties in the U.S. — thwarting, for now, plans to expand its operations in America.

Harry had hoped to secure a trademark for Sentebale in numerous categories, including ‘mental healthcare services’ and ‘psychological and mental health counselling services’, not to mention ‘provision of immunisations’, ‘campaigning’ and ‘organising of conferences, seminars, courses, workshops and other events’, and ‘production of audio and/or video recordings’.

But the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, while acknowledging that it has unearthed ‘no conflicting [trade]marks’, has given the application the thumbs-down. In a detailed ruling, it points out that many, if not quite all, the categories are inadequately defined.

Littering its letter of refusal with the phrase ‘considered too vague’ — inserted alongside category after category — it also rejects the use of ‘and/or’ as a term ‘generally not accepted’.

It says pointedly: ‘An application must specify, in an explicit manner, the particular goods and services on or in connection with which the applicant uses, or has a bona fide intention to use, the [trade]mark in commerce.’

That, alas, is not all. Accounts filed here last week with the Charity Commission show that donations to the charity from the American Friends of Sentebale Foundation halved in a year — down from more than £1.2 million to £610,000.

Is it time for Harry to go tin-rattling in Montecito, the enclave for California’s fabulously rich where he lives?