Washington lawmakers were busy this last legislative session. Democrats controlled both houses of Congress and the Governor’s Office. This means some minor and major changes to Washington marijuana laws. Below is a list of marijuana bills that made it through the legislative session, and some commentary. Senate Bill 5298 “Regarding labeling of marijuana products.” This bill allows
Marijuana and hemp companies should not ignore the US-China trade war. Numerous products and components in these industries might be subject to increased tariffs of 25 percent. If cannabis companies can’t find new suppliers, those are costs that they will have to bear, or will have to pass on to their consumers. The Office of
Banking, intellectual property, food and beverage (and cosmetics), international trade, domestic trade, state laws, ag production contracts, etc., etc. When it comes to industrial hemp, the 2018 Farm Bill upended all of these things. Our cannabis business lawyers have been busy advising a large number of new hemp and hemp-CBD businesses getting in on the
Last week, the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco and Trade Bureau (“TTB”), which regulates the alcohol industry, released new information regarding the use of hemp-derived ingredients in the formulation of alcoholic beverages. The industry circular came as a response to numerous inquiries from the alcohol industry about whether alcoholic beverages containing cannabidiol (“CBD”) derived from hemp
As we previously explained, under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (“FDCA”), any substance that is intentionally added to food (including drinks) is a food additive. A food additive is subject to premarket review and approval by the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), unless the substance is generally recognized as safe (“GRAS”) by qualified experts
We’ve referenced the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board (TTAB) in numerous posts related to protecting your cannabis trademarks, but many clients come to me unaware of the functions of the TTAB. This post will give a basic rundown of what the TTAB does, and what the trademark opposition process looks like. This process is something
It’s becoming more and more common for companies in all industries to use social media “influencers” to promote their goods and services online. Influencer advertising in the cannabis industry is a particularly risky idea because paid advertisers need to comply with all cannabis marketing and advertising rules. It goes without saying that social media influencers
As promised, here’s an update on the first ever cannabis patent infringement case, which we’ve previously written about here and here. Since it’s been a little while – plaintiff United Cannabis Corporation (“UCANN”) owns the “911 Patent,” which generally covers liquid cannabinol formulations of a purified CBD and/or THC greater than 95%. Last July, UCANN
As everyone knows by now the 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp production by de-scheduling the crop under the Controlled Substance Act. We’ve written extensively about federal hemp rules and regulations as well as those in California, Oregon and Washington. We’ve also addressed hemp in terms of USDA Organic Certification, international trade issues, and the FDA stance on
It’s no secret that multiple state-by-state operators are building their cannabis empires through aggressive mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”). Last year, our cannabis business attorneys closed more than $100 million in cannabis company acquisitions, and that shows no signs of stopping in 2019. Cannabis M&A is not your run-of-the-mill business dealing though, and working from boilerplate,
