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.
While cannabis brands need to be mindful of cannabis-specific trademark issues, they must also pay attention to trademarking basics. Back in January, we discussed three key trademark issues: distinctiveness, likelihood of confusion, and application bases. Today we continue our exploration of trademark basics, looking at the importance of choosing goods and services thoughtfully, in order
Costa Rica’s proposed hemp and medical cannabis law was passed by the Legislative Assembly on January 13, after a 29-10 vote. But what should have been a landmark accomplishment for cannabis legalization in the region has been overshadowed by President Carlos Alvarado’s refusal to sign Bill No. 21388 into law. According to President Alvarado, there
Puerto Rico has taken an important step on the road to economic recovery, with the approval by a federal judge of “the largest municipal debt restructuring in U.S. history.” As the island looks for a fresh start, it should adopt a forward-thinking legal framework that allows it to harness the vast economic opportunities presented by
Spotify AB (“Spotify”) has prevailed in two opposition proceedings it brought against the registrations of two POTIFY marks, which were applied for by U.S. Software Inc. (“U.S. Software”), in connection to its Potify platform. According to U.S. Software, Potify is “a backend software platform designed for legal marijuana dispensaries to market and sell their products.”
The registration of cannabis trademarks in the United States raises novel issues. This is an unsurprising result of the uneasy coexistence between expanding legality at the state level, and ongoing prohibition at the federal level. Cannabis businesses need to keep these issues on their radar when crafting brand strategies. At the same time, however, they
Across practices, we are seeing the internet turn into a menace for businesses dealing with law enforcement and regulatory agencies. Risks are present for entities of all stripes, but cannabis businesses in particular need to beware of the Internet and what it says about them. If the Internet says so, it must be drug paraphernalia
Parody is a tricky defense to cannabis trademark infringement, or to any infringement allegation whatsoever. For some background on this, check out our posts here, here and here. Still, people riff off established trademarks all the time, and when pursued, they often raise the parody defense. In the cannabis context, this happened most recently in
With the approval of the Authority on the Responsible Use of Cannabis Act (the “Act“), legal cannabis in Malta has arrived. The Mediterranean island nation is the first in the European Union to legalize adult-use cannabis. Medical cannabis has been legal in Malta since 2018. 1. What Is Now Legal? The Act permits the cultivation of up
The CBD Product Safety and Standardization Act (the Act) indicates that the Feds might regulate CBD as a food ingredient, and that it may lead to regulation of other cannabinoids. If the Feds regulate CBD as a food ingredient, it could seriously change the game (in a good way) for hemp CBD companies. On December
Chile’s presidential elections are heading to a second round. We’re paying attention for many reasons, not least the fact that the results will have significant implications for cannabis policy, not just in Chile, but in all of Latin America. The winner of the first round was José Antonio Kast, who eked out a victory over
