Minor Cannabinoids: Exploring the Science, Legality, & Opportunities
The Responsible Corporate Officer Doctrine and the Food, Beverage and Agribusiness Industry — What You Need to Know
Podcast: Non-binding Guidance: FDA’s Regulation of Products Containing CBD
In a precedential decision earlier this year, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board thinned some of the haze surrounding the registrability of trademarks for hemp-derived CBD products. In line with the U.S. Patent and...more
Weeks ago, on September 14 2020, the Trump Administration made news by announcing a ban on the importation of certain products made in China’s Xinjiang region, where widespread human rights abuses—including slave labor work...more
On May 1, 2020, Blue Bell Creameries L.P. (Blue Bell) agreed to plead guilty to charges that it distributed contaminated ice cream products that were linked to a 2015 listeriosis outbreak. The Blue Bell outbreak made...more
On the heels of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) recent declarations regarding the safety of products containing cannabidiol (CBD), several companies have been hit with class action lawsuits alleging that that...more
Within the last two months, three class action lawsuits have been filed in federal courts against companies that sell ingestible products containing cannabidiol (CBD), a chemical compound found in the cannabis plant, alleging...more
Following the recent public hearing held by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the safety and efficacy of cannabidiol (CBD), many in the food and beverage industry asked how long it will take for the agency to...more
Legalizing “hemp” under the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) has triggered an important change for the examination of federal trademark applications concerning cannabis and cannabis-derived goods and...more
Trademark practitioners, hemp producers, and hemp-derived product manufacturers have long struggled with the clash of federal and state law regarding protection of trademarks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office...more
Until a few cases over the last year, courts appeared to be just fine maintaining the paradox that while individuals could lawfully treat their disabilities with licensed medical marijuana use, employers could choose to pass...more
On March 1, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in Shuker et al. v. Smith & Nephew PLC, affirmed a District Court’s ruling that claims against a medical device manufacturer are expressly preempted by federal law....more
Employers nationwide take note: if your workplace drug and alcohol-testing policies take a zero tolerance approach to medical marijuana because the use, distribution, or possession of marijuana is unlawful under federal law,...more
The Southern District of New York recently dismissed a putative class action against Cytosport, the maker of Muscle Milk protein powder. The plaintiff, Orlando Bautista, alleged that he bought a container of Muscle Milk...more
On September 9, 2016, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an interesting decision in a false advertising case involving a dispute between competitors in the home pregnancy testing market. Church & Dwight Co. v....more
On July 21, 2016, two former executives of Acclarent, Inc., a medical device company owned by Johnson & Johnson, Inc., were found guilty of ten misdemeanor violations of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), following a...more
On July 6, 2016, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its ruling in United States v. DeCoster, in which it upheld prison sentences for two executives under the “responsible corporate officer” (RCO) doctrine of...more
Three years ago, in United States v. Caronia, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) neither prohibits nor criminalizes truthful, nonmisleading speech that...more
Wondering what your employee is smoking in the break room, likely in violation of your “no-smoking” policy? Chances are it is an electronic smoking device, such as an e-cigarette or vaporizer. What should you do about it?...more
Last month, Judge Lucy H. Koh of the Northern District of California granted summary judgment in favor of Gerber because the plaintiff failed to satisfy the “reasonable consumer standard” in backing up her allegations that...more
On December 8, 2014, U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted defendant Dole’s motion for summary judgment of the plaintiff’s false labeling claims in...more
Earlier this year, in POM Wonderful LLC v. Coca-Cola Co.,[1] the Supreme Court examined the interaction between the Lanham Act’s prohibition against false advertising and the FDCA’s prohibition against food, drug and...more
Three Senate Democrats recently introduced a bill that seeks to hold company executives of a product maker or seller criminally liable for knowingly "failing to inform and warn of serious dangers" associated with a product....more