As expected, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has continued to increase the number of patents issued containing the words “cannabis” or “marijuana” this year. Because we anticipate that the growing number of patents in this industry and progression of the first cannabis patent lawsuit (covered here, here, here, and here) inevitably will inspire more
A few weeks ago, I wrote a Hemp/CBD litigation forecast in which I predicted that at some point a CBD company will make use of the Lanham Act by claiming that a competitor is engaging in false or misleading advertising. (See here). In that post I promised to go into the Lanham Act in further
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that the U.S. is facing a vaping epidemic where consumers are potentially inhaling/ingesting very toxic chemicals in the form of vaporized nicotine liquid and THC oil. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevent (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and state and local governments are still trying
The 2019 Oregon legislative session resulted in the adoption of several new laws concerning cannabis. You can read our definitive list here, our preview of the session here and a mid-session update here. One notable change was the passage of Senate Bill 218, which authorizes the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) to refuse to issue initial
Recently, I traveled to Chicago to speak at a conference hosted by the American Bar Association (“ABA”) titled From Regs to Riches: Navigating the Rapidly Emerging Fields of Cannabis and Hemp Law. The Conference covered a broad range of cannabis topics including the tension between state and federal law on marijuana, navigating the licensing and start-up
As most of us know, bankruptcy is just not an option for the cannabis industry or those even affiliated with it. To date, courts have generally ruled that debtors who work in the cannabis industry or derive meaningful income from cannabis activity (directly or indirectly) cannot use bankruptcy. This is in response to the U.S.
Our cannabis attorneys are often asked by media, clients, and other professionals working in the hemp and CBD marketplace what we think will be the next “big issue” in this developing industry. Often these questions concern regulatory and compliance questions, as (most) companies are keen to mitigate risk and avoid running afoul of state and
On June 26, 2019 the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issued a ruling in Tennessee Wine and Spirits Retailers Association v. Thomas invalidating a two-year residency requirement for Tennessee retail liquor stores. The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) has a similar six-month durational-residency requirement required for any person applying to be a
Recently, William J. McNichol, Jr., Adjunct Professor at Rutgers University School of Law, wrote an article regarding the enforcement of cannabis patents that should definitely be discussed. As we’ve noted starting last summer, we expect to see an increasing number of patent infringement cases. We’ve also been providing updates on the very first patent infringement
California cannabis has a problem: roughly 80% of jurisdictions in the state prohibit cannabis stores of any kind, despite voters approving full legalization with Prop 64 (the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, now the Medicinal and Adult Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act, or MAUCRSA) in 2016 by nearly 60%. The result has been “cannabis
