The Impact of the Horn Case on RICO - RICO Report Podcast
Cannabis Law Now Podcast: Cannabis and Hemp Federal and State Advocacy in 2025
Cannabis Law Now Podcast: Local Government and Cannabis Enforcement — What Matters and Why
12 Days of Regulatory Insights: Day 5 - Cannabis Chronicles — Regulatory Oversight Podcast
Florida Medical Cannabis Business Licensing Process: What Happens Next for MMTC Applicants?
Bringing Your Cannabis Brand to New York
Cannabis Law Now Podcast: Building a Lasting Cannabis Brand with Tiffany Chin from Death Row Cannabis
Cannabis & Psychedelics On the 2024 Ballot
Cannabis Rescheduling: Timeline, Tax Strategies & 280E
Cannabis Law Now Podcast: 2024 Cannabis Industry Pitfalls on Blast
Mitigating and Addressing Litigation Risks for Cannabis Businesses
Cannabis M&A: Pain Points and Opportunities
Cannabis Law Now Podcast: Cannabis Companies and the Corporate Transparency Act
Intellectual property considerations for launching new cannabis products
Unpacking the current cannabis regulatory landscape and how it impacts your business
Cannabis Law Now Podcast: Inside a Top MSO with Jushi's EVP of Legal Affairs Matt Leeth
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: Farmers First According to Humboldt Trim Company
Cannabis Law Now Podcast: THC Infused Beverages: Cantrip's Journey Through the Hemp-Derived Looking Glass
The new fee structure is presented as a neutral pricing adjustment to replace the current TEAS Plus and TEAS Standard application filing options with a single base application option that changes based on the "complexity and...more
Trademark law protects businesses’ brand identities and helps prevent consumer confusion. The U.S. trademark system operates at both federal and state levels. Federal registration through the United States Patent and...more
Federal trademark registration is typically unavailable for goods and services related to the sale of cannabis. But a combination of federal copyright registration and state trademark registration for these goods and...more
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
A Texas appellate court recently upheld a decision to prevent a ban on the sale of delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) products in the state. Tex. Dep’t of State Health Servs. v. Sky Mktg. Corp., No. 03-21-00571-CV, 2023 BL...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
In our previous post, we discussed how a cannabis business can take steps to avoid potential trademark infringement claims. In this release, we will discuss how a cannabis business can use trademarks for brand protection –...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
The state of intellectual property is in flux within the cannabis industry. On the eve of MJBizCon, below is a brief inventory of where the law stands on cannabis-related issues for branding and technology....more
Although commercial use of a trademark alone triggers rights in a mark, wise business owners endeavor to take advantage of the added benefits and protections conveyed by federal registration. One of the most important...more
With an increasing number of states legalizing the growth, sales, and use of medicinal and recreational marijuana, the cannabis industry is becoming an increasingly prevalent force in national and world markets. As the...more
When Fame is the Name of the Game - As of the third quarter of 2021, Swedish music streaming company SPOTIFY boasted 381 million monthly active users worldwide – significantly more than the population of the entire United...more
Happy New Year! We’re excited to share the January 2022 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter in a newly updated format. This month’s articles discuss the Pantone Color Institute's 2022 Color of the Year –...more
As more states legalize cannabis, companies are dealing with the absence of national trademark uniformity. Currently, there is no legal mechanism to obtain a trademark to sell cannabis across state lines. Instead, companies...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
The June 2021 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter discusses recent litigation surrounding copyright registration invalidation and implications of the increase in trademark application filings at the USPTO....more
In an industry that runs on innovation and differentiation, a cannabis brand’s identity is among its most valuable—and most prone to copying—assets. It’s a common myth that cannabis industry brands cannot get trademark...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
Cannabis is a rapidly growing industry; in 2019, overall sales of cannabis products legal under state law were estimated to be worth $13.6 billion, with an expected increase to $29.7 billion by 2025. While marijuana remains a...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
While many states have legalized or decriminalized cannabis products, the federal government still considers these products to be illegal. Thus, as people are often surprised to learn, federal trademark protection for these...more
A California federal judge recently reminded cannabis trademark owners that the manufacture and sale of cannabis products remain illegal under federal law, so they cannot challenge federal trademark registrations based on...more