The Potential for Cannabis Trademarks in Canada is Huge
Uncategorized October 5, 2018
News broke recently that Tweed, Inc., a subsidiary of Canadian cannabis company Canopy Growth Corp., filed a Canadian trademark application on August 31, 2018 for CHRONIC BY DRE, which they subsequently withdrew, apologizing and calling it a mistake. As we’ve written before, the number of trademark filings covering cannabis... Read more
Cannabis Litigation 101: Trade Secrets
Uncategorized October 2, 2018
Protect them at all costs! Over the course of the next few weeks and months, we intend to write a number of blog posts about various forms of civil litigation that could arise in future in the cannabis industry. This is the first, and is focused on trade secret... Read more
The “Tiger Hemp Beer” Case: Clear Your Cannabis Trademarks Before Filing
ColoradoUncategorized September 30, 2018
Having to re-brand can be pretty painful. One of my favorite pastimes is perusing the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) Trademark Trial and Appeals Board’s (TTAB) records for disputes involving cannabis, hemp and CBD because there are often valuable lessons to be learned. One such record is... Read more
California Cannabis Advertising: Changes Coming?
CaliforniaRecreational MarijuanaUncategorized August 27, 2018
Seem likely, anyway. It’s been a while since we wrote about advertising regulations in California, in large part because the regulations have been a moving target. But with AB 2899 making steady progress, we thought it would be a good time to give a rundown of current Medicinal and... Read more
Trademark Considerations for Your Celebrity Cannabis Licensing Deals
Medical MarijuanaRecreational MarijuanaUncategorized August 18, 2018
I’ve worked on many celebrity licensing and endorsement deals, and my firm’s cannabis intellectual property lawyers have received countless inquiries from companies looking to partner with one celebrity or another. And while the best of the deals can be very lucrative (and interesting) for everyone involved, plenty of them... Read more
Cannabis Cybersecurity: Why Hacking Back is a Bad Idea
Recreational MarijuanaUncategorized August 13, 2018
Hacking back isn’t the answer, unfortunately. As I have discussed for the last two weeks, cannabis businesses have become increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks. It is natural for a company victimized by data breaches to want to retaliate by hacking back. However, under current U.S. law, which is codified under... Read more
BREAKING NEWS: First Cannabis Patent Lawsuit Filed
Medical MarijuanaRecreational MarijuanaUncategorized August 8, 2018
In previous posts, we’ve puzzled about why no one has filed a cannabis patent infringement case, despite the large number of patents granted for cannabis plants and compounds. See here, here, here, and here. That all changed last week. United Cannabis Corporation (“UCANN”) has now filed what is believed... Read more
Canadian Branding and Marketing Regulations Will Impact Both U.S. and Canadian Cannabis Businesses
Uncategorized July 30, 2018
With implementation of Canada’s Cannabis Act (the “Act”) set for October of this year, many of our clients owning brands that will be sold in both the United States and Canada are beginning to wonder what the implications of new branding and marketing regulations will be. So far, more than... Read more
Protect your business and its data from theft. To our surprise, many of our clients remain convinced that they are immune to cyberattacks. Yet, cannabis businesses house incredibly valuable information, making them exceedingly vulnerable to these attacks. This misplaced confidence has led numerous cannabis companies to operate without the... Read more
Is Your Cannabis Copyright Enforceable?
Uncategorized July 21, 2018
I previously discussed how cannabis works of authorship, including the design of sufficiently original logos (only the graphic elements of the logo, not the words), are copyrightable. I also alluded to the possibility that such copyrights may be unenforceable due to the federal illegality of cannabis. Indeed, whether a... Read more
