On Friday, I had the privilege of speaking on a panel at American University Washington College of Law’s Intellectual Property Symposium in Washington D.C., which addressed the obstacles of obtaining and enforcing IP rights in the cannabis industry. Many of the questions asked were ones I’ve been working through for the last several years, so
As we’ve discussed before on this blog, cannabis can be and is being patented. It is important to remember that patents are a balance between competing social values. In classical legal theory, patents exist to encourage innovation by offering innovators a limited monopoly in return for making inventions, and eventually releasing them to the public. Although
The Oregon legislative session began on Monday. Because 2018 is an even-numbered calendar year, this session is a short session, lasting just 35 days. That fact hasn’t stopped Oregon democrats from targeting ambitious policy objectives like cap-and-trade, along with a host of other items that will likely not get done. As to cannabis, there won’t
California is just starting to get its cannabis packaging and labeling regulations right under MAUCRSA. California has a mandated transition period from January 1 to July 1, 2018, during which time adult use and medical marijuana licensees can do business with each other and temporary and annual state licensees can transport and sell cannabis products already
We receive a lot of questions regarding employment relationships versus independent contractor relationships in the marijuana industry. Independent contractors are an excellent way for cannabis businesses to bring on individuals or companies with specialized skills to perform services or provide goods. The trick is making sure the person or company you hire will actually be viewed
As we’ve discussed time and time again, California’s voter-passed cannabis legalization initiative, as well as all subsequent statutory and regulatory additions to that law, maintains local governments as the ultimate arbiters of whether and how commercial cannabis operations can take place within any given county or municipality in the state. The most prominent exercise of
Previous posts have discussed cannabis patents, here. Today I explain the basics of how to read a patent. Why would you want to do such a thing? If you are in the cannabis business, you may own a patent, or be threatened of infringing one. The tips below will give you a good start on understanding
The cannabis industry continues to grow. Each year we see additional states legalize recreational marijuana. Along with more legalized weed, comes more cannabis employees. And more employees means more employment litigation. We recently hosted a litigation webinar where I spoke about employment litigation and ways to protect your marijuana business. One of the tools I
California cannabis businesses are now acquiring temporary permits to enter the new cannabis marketplace made possible under MAURSCA. As part of that process, all cannabis businesses have been introduced to the California Department of Fee and Tax Administration (“CDTFA”), the agency tasked with administering the new cannabis cultivation taxes and sales tax. The CDTFA administers
This week, the Bureau of Cannabis Control (the “BCC”) announced that as of January 9, 2019, Section 11362.775 of the Health and Safety Code (the “Code”) will no longer be in effect. The BCC notice ends the popular collective and cooperative models of cannabis cultivation, manufacturing and distribution in California. These models were promulgated through
