Tag Archives: Marijuana

Business is booming for cannabis ventures, but the legal landscape for related intellectual property protection and product advertising is rife with complications that demand special consideration, and companies should be paying attention to these issues out of the gate.

Foley Hoag presents a webinar covering a range of topics related to cannabis IP protection and promotion, including:

• Maximizing trademark rights at the federal and state level
• Leveraging copyright as secondary protection for brands
• Cannabis patent basics and strategies
• Advertising best practices and what not to say FDA regulation of cannabis and cannabis-derived products
• CBD,…

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I recently returned from this autumn’s PTMG conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia, where I enjoyed catching up with colleagues from near and far, learning about trends in pharmaceutical industry trademark law around the world, and exploring a lovely corner of the Adriatic. Here are my top five takeaways from the meeting:

1. Game of Thrones “Set Jetters” are everywhere. Dubrovnik,…

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This article was published first in Cannabis Industry Journal

While the USPTO might not register your trademark, there are still some tools available to protect your intellectual property.

Federal trademark registrations are invaluable tools for emerging businesses. They put the world on notice of a company’s name; they can secure nationwide priority over others using similar names; they distinguish a product in the marketplace;… More

Cannabis trademarks. By now, most IP lawyers know two things about them.

First, even though cannabis is legal in an increasing number of states (9 allow recreational use; 29 allow medical use), the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is refusing applications to federally register cannabis trademarks, no matter the home state of the applicant, until the substance gets reclassified by or removed from the Controlled Substances Act (which doesn’t seem to be on the immediate horizon).… More

With the first retail sales of adult use marijuana slated to take place in just over five months, the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (the “Commission”) is working overtime to regulate an industry that some project will exceed $1 billion in revenue by 2020.  As the July 1st target date for the opening of retail cannabis shops approaches, one area that will undoubtedly become the focus of much attention is the ability of retailers to market their wares. … More

Although marijuana is becoming legal to varying degrees in an increasing number of states, your chances of getting a marijuana trademark registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) are still grim. In order to register a trademark with the PTO, the applicant has to show that the goods or services with which the mark will be used are permitted under federal law. Therefore, until marijuana gets reclassified by or removed from the federal Controlled Substances Act,… More