Mitigating and Addressing Litigation Risks for Cannabis Businesses
Cannabis M&A: Pain Points and Opportunities
Managing Labor and Employment Complexities in Cannabis Businesses
Work This Way: A Labor & Employment Law Podcast - Episode 29: Weed in the Workplace with Christy Rogers of Maynard Nexsen
Intellectual property considerations for launching new cannabis products
Unpacking the current cannabis regulatory landscape and how it impacts your business
Managing Employee Compliance in Highly Regulated Industries — Hiring to Firing Podcast
If Cannabis Is Reclassified, What Will Happen to the Marketplace? – Diagnosing Health Care
Cannabis Law Now Podcast: What’s Next for Schedule III Marijuana
Podcast - DEA Plants the Seed for Rescheduling Marijuana: What's Next?
Cannabis Law Now Podcast: How Florida Will Change the National Cannabis Landscape Through Amendment 3
The Presumption of Innocence Podcast: Special Edition | Episode 36 - Rolling Change: The DEA Turns Over a New Leaf on Marijuana Scheduling
Cannabis Law Now Podcast: Farmers First According to Humboldt Trim Company
Cannabis Law Now Podcast: THC Infused Beverages: Cantrip's Journey Through the Hemp-Derived Looking Glass
Cannabis Law Now Podcast: Cannabis Investing in the U.S. - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Cannabis Law Now Podcast: Catalyst Cannabis Takes on the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration Over Cannabis Excise Taxes
Cannabis Law Now Podcast: Cannabis Banking from the Inside: An Interview with Salal Credit Union
(Podcast) California Employment News: Expanded Workplace Protections Regarding Cannabis Use
California Employment News: Expanded Workplace Protections Regarding Cannabis Use
Cannabis Law Now Podcast: The ‘CannaBoies' Lawsuit and Why it Matters
Based on recent events, it seems likely marijuana will be rescheduled under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) sometime this year. While many industry experts have discussed the impacts in recent months, many questions still...more
Republic Technologies (NA) LLC (“Republic”) filed an application to register the proposed mark 4:20 with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”). Republic amended its goods twice during prosecution of the...more
Apologies for the cannabis puns in the title, but they are required by law. Okay, you are correct. That is not true. But it is true that trademark protection is important for individuals in the cannabis industry. Earlier this...more
A recent lawsuit alleging trademark infringement by AmerikanWeed illustrates the importance of protecting intellectual property in the cannabis industry. Complaint at 9-10, Palmer, et al. v. Komm et al., No. 21-2-13589-3 SEA...more
Recently, we published an article regarding the increasing viability of cannabis related patents. See here. Sadly, the story is the opposite for federal trademarks. Last month, National Concessions Group, Inc. (“NCG”) was...more
In a precedential decision earlier this month, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board upheld refusals to register two trademarks owned by National Concessions Group Inc. (“National”) on the ground that the goods – essential oil...more
In the first federal appellate ruling on delta-8 THC, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals deemed the substance legal—at least for purposes of trademark protection—concluding that if “Congress inadvertently created a loophole...more
The September 2021 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter discusses a recent non-precedential Trademark Trial and Appeal Board decision regarding intent-to-use applications covering CBD products currently...more
On July 14, 2021, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, together with Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden and Senator Cory Booker, released a discussion draft of the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (the...more
[co-author: Richa Patel, Summer Associate] The July 2021 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter discusses fluid trademarks and the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act. Plus, check out the answer key...more
Trailblazing Legislation to Watch in 2021 - Welcome to our first installment of Watching the Pot™, which will provide summaries on recent buzz-worthy cannabis information, including decisions, legislation, news, and cases...more
This article discusses the global developments for the registration of cannabis and cannabis-related trademarks in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the European Union....more
Companies entering into the emerging market for medical and recreational marijuana products and services will face unique challenges when attempting to protect trademarks. Such challenges include brand protection in states...more
The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) reiterated once again that you cannot register marijuana marks at the federal level. The TTAB announced its decision on July 16, 2019, rejecting Canopy Growth Corporation’s, a...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
In recent years, it has been difficult for cannabis companies to develop and protect consistent and comprehensive brands on a nationwide basis, due to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office’s (“USPTO’s”) refusal of federal...more
In the continuing evolution of Cannabis law in the U.S., the United States Trademark Office is now prepared to allow at least some Cannabidiol (CBD) containing products to have federally registered trademarks. New guidelines...more
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") generally refuses to register marks that violate federal law. Hemp and hemp-derived CBD were previously classified as Schedule I controlled substances under the Controlled...more
On May 2, 2019, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued "Examination Guide 1-19 - Examination of Marks for Cannabis and Cannabis Related Goods and Services after Enactment of the 2018 Farm Bill" (Guidance),...more
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) issued an examination guide on Friday, May 2, 2019, regarding the examination of trademarks for cannabis and cannabis-related goods and services after the...more
Following the enactment of the 2018 Farm Bill [see related article1], the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) just this morning released a new Trademark Examination Guide for marks covering cannabis and...more
Cannabidiol (commonly referred to as "CBD") has been in the news for several years now, due to its touted health and wellness benefits. This is especially the case since the Agricultural Act of 2018, or AIA, became law in...more
In a previous Legal Alert, we covered the removal of one impediment to federal trademark registration for hemp/CBD products: namely, that hemp/CBD products will no longer be outlawed by the Controlled Substances Act and will...more
In almost every industry, businesses expend significant capital and resources to develop their brand, which, although intangible, is often the most valuable piece of property a business owns....more
Despite numerous states having legalized medical marijuana, and a handful of others having legalized marijuana for recreational use, it still remains impossible to obtain a U.S. federal trademark registration for marijuana...more