The current state of enforcement in California tends to be dominated by headlines about the Department of Justice, Jeff Sessions, the DEA, and the Controlled Substances Act. And for good reason—under the constitution, federal law is the law of the land, and commercial landlords and tenant alike should study federal enforcement guidelines closely. Lease agreements
Copyright is an aspect of intellectual property (IP) law less frequently considered by cannabis businesses than trademark, trade secrets or even patents it seems. Yet, like these other forms of intellectual property, copyrights can afford their holders with market dominance and profitability when utilized correctly. Almost all marijuana businesses own numerous unregistered copyrights, whether or
We’ve written extensively about the dos and don’ts of filing cannabis-related state and federal trademarks, and we all know by now that you cannot obtain a federal trademark registration for goods or services that are not lawful pursuant to federal law. But I’ve heard a lot of creative arguments in this space, and have had many
It is no secret that cannabidiol (CBD) is having a moment right now. Unlike its cousin tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is another cannabinoid found in the cannabis plant, CBD is not psychoactive. It has been growing in popularity for years for medical and other applications, but has really taken off lately. Though CBD has become increasingly
As CBD and hemp continue to grow in popularity we are receiving an increasing number of calls and emails from companies that want to distribute hemp across the country. We have written about the legality of hemp and CBD under federal law: DEA Confirms It Cannot Regulate All Parts of the Cannabis Plant Cannabis Taxation:
What do cake and cannabis have to do with each other? Besides the obvious late-night munchies or a great recipe for an edible, a recent Supreme Court decision involving cake impacts cannabis businesses across the nation. The Masterpiece Cakeshop case garnered a lot of media attention—and for good reason. Not only are the facts enticing
Last week I had the pleasure of attending the International Trademark Association’s (INTA) Annual Meeting in Seattle, where trademark practitioners from around the world convened to geek out on all things brand-related. One of the prevalent topics of conversation was trademark licensing. While we’ve discussed at length some of the challenges of entering into Intellectual
Equity financing has only recently become a viable option for companies in the cannabis industry. As a result, many industry entrepreneurs are unfamiliar with equity financing terms. Also, many entrepreneurs (in many industries) don’t dig deeply into terms they don’t understand, which is a dangerous game. For example, trying to read the National Venture Capital
Yesterday afternoon, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (“OLCC”) published a news release titled “OLCC Will Pause Acceptance of Marijuana License Applications.” This “pause” takes effect Friday, June 15th. The agency’s sudden announcement was a big surprise to almost everyone, and we received a flood of emails and phone calls throughout the afternoon. Personally, I cannot
Last Friday, California released another round of emergency regulations that essentially renewed the existing emergency rules, but with some updates, a fair amount of which affect commercial cannabis leasing. Here are some of the notable ones. “Premises” distinctions defined. SB 94 and AB 133, the statutes enacted in 2017 to implement and refine Prop 64,
