Litigation Update: JustCBD Files Motion to Dismiss Class Action Lawsuit
HempUncategorized November 24, 2019
A couple of months ago I wrote a “Hemp/CBD litigation forecast.” (See here.) One topic of that post was the rise in class actions against Hemp-CBD companies and I noted the consumer class action complaint filed against JustCBD in the Southern District of Florida, Case No. 0:19-cv-62067-RS. The gravamen of the complaint is that JustCBD…
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Cannabis Patent Litigation: Remedies for Patent Infringement
Uncategorized November 16, 2019
Continuing our discussion from last week, we received a few follow-up questions on whether patent litigation is really worth the trouble and what can be potentially recovered. In short, the amount of damages you can recover for patent infringement is outlined by statute. Here is a cursory discussion of the different types of damages that…
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Cannabis and Insurance Litigation
Uncategorized November 8, 2019
Recently, Jonathan Bench wrote about the importance of insurance coverage for your hemp or recreational marijuana business. His first article provided the basic anatomy of such policies and his second discussed the importance of product liability insurance. This post highlights recent litigation in which insurance is at issue, or ought to be. Hemp insurer seeks…
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Cannabis Patent Litigation: What Constitutes Infringement?
Uncategorized November 6, 2019
As expected, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has continued to increase the number of patents issued containing the words “cannabis” or “marijuana” this year. Because we anticipate that the growing number of patents in this industry and progression of the first cannabis patent lawsuit (covered here, here, here, and here) inevitably will inspire more…
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Cannabis Business Basics: Product Liability Insurance is a Nonnegotiable Priority
Uncategorized October 22, 2019
With Juul recently in the news and vaping bans going into effect around the country (see our recent coverage here, here, here and here), marijuana companies have been asking us questions about what to expect in the near term. In the midst of this uncertainty, we have been stressing to our clients the importance of insurance coverage…
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Early last week, we covered Governor Brown’s Executive Order No. 19-09 banning flavored vaping products. That ban is six months in duration, and it covers all flavored tobacco and nicotine vaping products, as well as marijuana products flavored with non-marijuana terpenes. As expected, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) and Oregon Health Authority (OHA) quickly…
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Cannabis Litigation: Another Blow to the Illegality Defense (Kennedy v. Helix TCS, Inc.)
Uncategorized October 2, 2019
Yes, cannabis is still federally illegal. But no, that doesn’t mean cannabis businesses should act as if federal law doesn’t exist. It does, and it probably applies to any cannabis business. Nevertheless, our cannabis attorneys often hear claims that federal law doesn’t apply. In fact, two questions that I’ve heard numerous times are: If the…
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Cannabis Trademark Litigation: Web Platform Liability (Mr. T v. Leafly)
Uncategorized September 24, 2019
On August 22, 2019, actor Mr. T, best known as a star of the TV series “The A-Team,” sued Leafly Holdings Inc. for trademark infringement. The lawsuit was filed after Mr. T’s attorneys sent multiple cease and desist letters to Leafly, which were allegedly ignored. The lawsuit stems from Leafly’s listing of a strain called…
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California’s Right to Farm Laws, Pesticide Drift, Wine and Weed
CaliforniaUncategorized September 17, 2019
California, like other states, has a Right to Farm Act that is intended to protect agricultural activity, and many counties have their own local right to farm ordinances as well. California’s Right to Farm Act provides: “No agricultural activity, operation, or facility, or appurtenances thereof, conducted or maintained for commercial purposes, and in a manner consistent…
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Litigation Update: Who Decides Whether You Can Ship Hemp Through Idaho?
HempUncategorized September 17, 2019
Regular readers know that we are in the midst of presenting a 50-state series analyzing how each state treats hemp-derived cannabidiol (“Hemp CBD”). Recently we covered Idaho, which we neatly summarized as “probably the worst state in the country to get caught with hemp.” The article explains why this is so in detail. Among the…
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