The year 2020 was a shock for all of us from both personal and business perspectives, but 2021 is shaping up to look much better, especially for Washington cannabis companies. In the past three months, I have had serious conversations with many clients and prospective clients regarding M&A activities. The pace of inquiries has accelerated
Along with a robust cannabis practice, our law firm works with businesses around the globe on legal matters involving dispute resolution, customs, trade, employment, foreign direct investment, manufacturing, technology, intellectual property, and entertainment. Several years ago, these practice areas rarely overlapped; that is no longer the case. Our international and cannabis business lawyers now regularly
In our last post, as well as in our Mexico cannabis webinar last month (replay here), we examined the implications, business opportunities and requirements to take advantage of the Medical Regulations that recently entered into force in Mexico. Yes, medical cannabis is now fully legal in Mexico. However, that does not mean that you are able
A few weeks back, I wrote a post entitled “California Tries Again with CBD“, in which I discussed a new piece of legislation (AB-45) introduced to ostensibly provide a regulatory framework for the manufacture and sale of certain hemp-derived products. Those products include foods or beverages that contain cannabidiol (CBD). In that post, I mentioned
The latest case of trademark infringement involving a cannabis company provides a great illustration of a trademark concept that can be difficult to convey to clients, which is the concept of “likelihood of confusion” where two marks are not identical, or even all that close to identical. According to news reports, “Menthol cigarette brand Kool
On February 4, the European Union (EU)’s Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs added cannabidiol (CBD) “derived from extract or tincture or resin of cannabis” as a legal cosmetic ingredient to its CosIng guidelines. CosIng is a database of cosmetic regulations that expressly provides for authorized and unlawful ingredients and sets forth their
Our cannabis business attorneys have drafted many cannabis supply chain agreements (such as distribution agreements, licensing agreements, etc.) over the years. Generally, supply chain cannabis contracts follow the same format and the same nuanced provisions seem to pop up time and time again (I wrote about some of them previously in the context of tri-party
Five* Latin American nations are set to hold presidential elections in 2021, with some important legislative elections taking place as well. Some of these contests will have implications for cannabis policy, and we will be looking at what is at stake in each vote, starting with Ecuador, which heads to the polls next Sunday, February
The Oregon legislative session kicked off in earnest last week (online) with 28 proposed cannabis bills crowding the docket. We'll probably see another dozen or so between now and June. In this post, I will run down the list and offer brief comments on each offering. Before diving in, though, some context will be useful.
Earlier this month, Circle K Stores Inc., owner and operator of the chain of Circle K convenience stores, filed a Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) Notice of Opposition against Medical Marijuana, Inc., a California company with a pending U.S. federal trademark application for the following design mark (the “MM ‘K’ Mark”): The MM “K”
