MSNBC--Move over, Paul Newman: Oprah is going organic. According to five trademark applications filed at the end of October with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the media mogul could make the jump from the magazine rack to grocery store shelves.
Applications were filed to trademark the name “Oprah’s Organics” for laundry list of foods including salad dressings, sauces, soups, dips, frozen vegetables and beverages. Another application was for a line of bath and body products including soap, bubble bath, moisturizer, lip balm, hand cream, hair products and other personal-care items.
In addition, an application was filed to use the name for “catering services.” Two other applications filed in September and August, respectively, for Oprah’s Harvest and Oprah’s Farm, also reference “food, beverages, agricultural and catering services.”
The applicant on the October trademark applications is listed as Oprah’s Farm LLC. In April, Pacific Business News reported that “Oprah’s Farm LLC” was registered as a business with the Hawaii Department of Commerce & Consumer Affairs.
"The trademarks were filed for Oprah's farm on Maui to enable the farm to grow and distribute produce on Maui and throughout the Hawaiian Islands," Oprah spokeswoman Nicole Nichols said via email.
These trademark filings come as Oprah’s TV venture with Discovery Communications, OWN, continues to lose money, although Discovery CFO Andrew Warren said in an investor conference call last week the most recent quarterly losses were noncash, related to higher marketing costs and content write-offs, and that Discovery expects OWN to break even next year.
