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This 4/20, patent owners with Intellectual Property (“IP”) related to cannabis have one more reason to celebrate as they may be able to enforce their rights against infringers in federal court. IP rights may provide an enforceable protection against copycats and competitors in the market, and may provide significant value to a company’s balance sheet. This was demonstrated when Tilray Brands, Inc. announced its intent to acquire fellow cannabis company Hexo Corp., a Canadian entity with a large patent portfolio related to cannabis, for approximately $56 million. Previously, whether a utility patent related to cannabis could provide such value in the United States was hazy. A first-of-its-kind case in California shows that it may be more than a pipe dream for cannabis patents to bolster a company’s balance sheet. The Court held the illegality doctrine did not bar an infringement claim based on a valid cannabis related utility patent asserted against a cannabis company.Continue Reading California Ruling May Sow Seeds of Cannabis Patent Precedent

Cannabis has become a growing sector for investment with increased focus by investors and entrepreneurs. See our colleague’s impressions from the 2022 MJ BizCon cannabis conference here. With the increased funding pouring into this sector has come a desire to protect the intellectual property in the products, research, and developments brought to market. Previously, patents—a limited monopoly allowing a patent holder to bar competitors from making/using/selling/importing a claimed system or method—were of limited use for those in the cannabis industry.Continue Reading What CannI Say? Litigating Cannabis Patents In District Court

The buzz of the cannabis industry has brought with it significant competition. The “green rush” of legalization produced a small group of legitimate competitors in both the consumable and pipe spaces. It is no surprise, then, that innovative companies protected their technology and did everything they could to box out their competition. The industry can expect more of the same as competitors fight for market share in a business ripe for explosion.

This post will examine the three most common forms of patent protection found in the cannabis industry, and an example of where each was litigated.
Continue Reading Patent Enforcement in the Cannabis Industry – Litigation Heats Up as Competitors Jockey for Market Position

Federal trademark registrations are now possible to obtain for some hemp-related trademarks.  The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) recent guidance, Examination Guide 1-19  “Examination of Marks for Cannabis and Cannabis-Related Goods and Services after Enactment of the 2018 Farm Bill” issued on May 2, 2019 (Guide 1-19), clarifies the procedure for examining applications for marks covering cannabis and cannabis-derived goods and services in light of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, Pub. L. 115-334 (also known as the “2018 Farm Bill”).  Guide 1-19 does not change the requirements for obtaining a trademark registration, but instead explains that hemp-related federal trademark registrations (in certain instances) are not barred as a matter of law. 
Continue Reading USPTO Allows Hemp-related Trademarks on or after December 20, 2018

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana.

Remember when Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed restrictive medical marijuana rules?  Well, times have changed.

Gov. Mary Fallin signed off this week on the do-over in…
Continue Reading The Week in Weed: August 10, 2018

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at news in the world of legalized marijuana.

The big action right now is in the states; as Justice Louis Brandeis said, a…
Continue Reading The Week in Weed: April 22, 2016