Fred leads Harris Sliwoski’s intellectual property practice and is the coordinator of the firm’s international team. Much of Fred’s practice consists of helping cannabis businesses protect their brands. He also works with entrepreneurs and companies entering the Web3 space, a new frontier for IP law. Prior to joining Harris Sliwoski, Fred worked overseas for more than a decade, in both government and private sector roles. Fred is a regular contributor to the award-winning China Law Blog and Canna Law Blog.
Fred began his career overseas as a U.S. consular officer in Guangzhou, China, where he advocated for fairer treatment of American companies and citizens in China and for stronger intellectual property rights enforcement. After entering the private sector, Fred worked at a Shanghai law firm as a foreign legal advisor and later joined one of the oldest American law firms in China, helping foreign companies navigate the Chinese legal environment. He also led the legal team at a Hong Kong-based brand protection consultancy, spending most of his time out in the field, protecting clients against counterfeiters and fraudsters in Greater China, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
In addition to his IP work, as a native Spanish speaker, Fred works closely with different Harris Sliwoski teams on Latin America and Spain matters. Fred also provides advice to cannabis industry participants and other businesses on import and export transactions.
Fred is an ardent supporter of FC Barcelona—and would be even in the absence of Catalan forebears who immigrated to Puerto Rico in the mid-1800s.
On November 8, 2023, the Florida Supreme Court held oral arguments on the validity of a constitutional amendment initiative to legalize adult-use cannabis (case number SC2023-0682). The Florida Constitution requires the state’s Attorney General to request an advisory opinion from the Supreme Court on the validity of any ballot initiatives. Attorney General Ashley Moody has
We are seeing in an uptick in China-related matters involving cannabis brands. Here are three tips for cannabis brands that are getting their products made in China: 1. Sign a Contract As I recently wrote in our sister blog, “while having a contract provides no guarantee of smooth operations or favorable dispute resolution, a well-drafted
Wisconsin may soon become the latest U.S. state to legalize adult-use cannabis. On September 22 of this year, a bill drafted by Sen. Melissa Agard (D-Madison) and Rep. Darin Madison (D-Milwaukee) was introduced in the state legislature. This is the latest in a series of legalization initiatives in the Badger State. The bill would make
Cannabis rescheduling appears to be a matter of time and my colleagues have written about the possible implications (see here, here, and here). Rescheduling to a less restrictive category will also have implications for trademarking by cannabis brands. By broadening the legality of cannabis goods and services, rescheduling will also make more canna trademarks eligible
Cannabis Brands and China Challenges Cannabis brands account for a sizeable component of my law firm’s intellectual property work (and, indeed, our work generally). Historically, there has been little overlap between our cannabis and China practice areas, beyond our representing a number of cannabis ancillary product companies on their China manufacturing matters. This is starting to change,
This post written by Harris Sliwoski attorney Fred Rocafort was originally published on July 20, 2023 on The Trademark Lawyer website and is republished here with their permission. Candymaker Wrigley and Terphogz, LLC have reached a settlement in a high-profile lawsuit over Terphogz’s use of the mark ZKITTLEZ on cannabis products and other merchandise such
Registering your trademarks is a critical step for protecting your brand – but it’s definitely not easy to figure out without experience. Trademarks are unique identifiers, most often company or product names or logos, but slogans, hashtags, and even 3D shapes, sounds and scents can also constitute trademarks, if used in connection with specific products
The Florida Chamber of Commerce has filed a brief with the state Supreme Court, opposing the placement of an adult-use cannabis legalization initiative on the 2024 ballot. The Chamber’s opposition is curious, given the clear potential that legalization holds for, well, commerce. If only for this reason, it is worth taking a closer look at
Germany has taken an important step toward cannabis legalization, with the release by the Health Ministry of the draft Cannabis Act (Cannabisgesetz or CanG). According to the Ministry, the bill seeks “to legalize private cultivation by adults for personal consumption as well as communal, non-commercial cultivation of cannabis in cultivation associations.” For more information on
The Florida Supreme Court will consider the legality of an initiative to get adult-use cannabis legalization on the 2024 ballot. Per Florida law, the state’s attorney general must request an advisory opinion from the Florida Supreme Court on whether the proposed measure complies with certain legal requirements. One of the issues is whether the initiative
