Jihee is an experienced complex commercial litigator in Harris Sliwoski’s Portland and Los Angeles offices. She represents clients in business, intellectual property, and real estate matters. Having worked extensively in both federal and state courts, Jihee advises her clients from case intake through arbitration and trial.
Do principals need to worry about personal exposure in cannabis intellectual property (IP) litigation? Surprisingly, the answer is sometimes “yes.” In this post, we will look at the “Borat” case as one example. First, it’s important to note that there are varying levels of liability that can be attributed to a cannabis company’s principals. In
Last week, Phylos Bioscience filed a federal court complaint against Silver Lion Farms in the District of Oregon. The complaint details that Phylos and Silver Lion had entered into a Letter of Engagement for Silver Lion to purchase $2,954,250 worth of hemp seeds of two different varieties – 14,625,000 of AutoCBD seeds and 8,775,000 of
Federal cannabis trademark litigation is a difficult proposition. In a recent case filed by Wunderwerks, Inc., a company that sells beverages infused with CBD and THC additives, we see another unfortunate example of this. Federal courts, at least, are still no friend to the cannabis industry. Wunderwerks had sued Dual Beverage Company LLC (“DBC”) in
Last year, I wrote that business owners need to be aware of a growing trend of federal class action lawsuits claiming business websites and point-of-sale terminals violate Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (the “ADA”). At this point, having a website that makes sales and isn’t broadly accessible is an invitation to be
We’ve seen a steady stream of trademark litigation in the cannabis space for quite some time now, and it’s as good a time as any to remind our readers that parody is not a defense to trademark infringement. In its complaint filed Monday, Plaintiffs Big Beverage, Inc. and Happy Hour Drinks Company, Inc. dba Happy
In follow-up to this post, we are happy to report that Dr. Sisley is still fighting the good fight: on Monday, Petitioners filed a Petition for Panel Rehearing or Rehearing En Banc. Although it’s not uncommon for these to get filed, few and far in between are granted (filing such a petition to rehash the
Well, it’s over (for now) for Suzanne Sisley. As we covered last year, Sisley, et al. v. U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, et al., Case No. 20-71433, was an appellate case filed by a group of scientists and veterans that had sued the DEA in May 2020. They, like so many others, argued that the DEA’s
Our posts here regularly cover celebrity-backed cannabis companies who are doing things right (and sometimes, doing things wrong), but a recent copyright infringement case proves that not all celebrities are interested in getting involved in the industry – and certainly shouldn’t be presumed to be okay with using their fame to promote it. Solar Therapeutics
In a case we’ve been watching closely, a California District Court Judge recently denied a motion by cannabis company Capna Intellectual. The motion sought to dismiss tobacco giant ITG Brands’ dilution claim for its “KOOL” brand. ITG’s branding uses “KOOL OOs” while Capna’s branding uses “BLOOM OOs.” As a refresher, in December 2020, ITG had
Most people know that any party to litigation unquestionably owes an “uncompromising duty to preserve” what they know or reasonably should know may be relevant evidence in their lawsuit. What they don’t know is this is true before any discovery requests are served, and sometimes, even before the complaint is filed. Here’s a primer on
