Cannabis litigation is growing as the industry matures. Recently, we’ve seen a suit related to false advertising, but we’re also seeing more traditional business litigation around partnership issues and contract breaches. In Los Angeles, the repeal of Prop. D and implementation of Measure M caused a lot of industry infighting, some of which led to
Last month, my Portland colleague and cannabis business litigator extraordinaire Jesse Mondry authored a post titled Oregon Cannabis: Drive-Thru Marijuana Sales Ending? On Friday, December 16, we got an answer to that question. The answer, I’m glad to report, is “not at this time.” That determination came via the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission’s (OLCC)
Many thanks for all who attended our December 1 webinar on “Cannabis and International Trade Issues 2022.” The event was hosted by the National Customs Broker and Freight Forwarders Association of America Educational Institute (NEI). We received many questions from the audience that we were not able to get to. We plan to cover some of
I previously wrote about how the cannabis industry should prepare itself for tough financial times. Capital is increasingly hard to come by unless you find yourself in a newly launched state like New York, perhaps. But once a state cannabis program is relatively mature, it’s only a matter of time before it’s a race to
Cannabis brands are known for clever branding and advertising. In some instances, this gets cannabis companies in trouble. See Cannabis Trademark Litigation: Wrigley Wins. Sometimes cannabis companies try to hew the parody line when riffing on an existing trademark. See Reminder: The Parody Defense to Trademark Infringement is Tricky. A fellow cannabis litigator, explained: “parody
Cosmetics are something of a bright spot when it comes to federal cannabis regulation. Unfortunately, however, there is quite a bit of misunderstanding when it comes to the federal legal framework for cannabis cosmetics. Following up on question that was asked during a recent webinar, here are the basics of which cannabis brands should be
We regularly cover intellectual property disputes on the blog, and the Edible Arrangements v. Green Thumb Industries trademark infringement case is one we covered two years ago when filed. Since then, this case appears to have been moderately active, with the parties engaging in the usual discovery and related motion practice. However, things did take
California law required the state Department of Cannabis Control to begin accepting large license applications on January 1, 2023. Earlier this year, DCC published proposed large licensing regulations (which I described here). As usually happens, on December 5, 2022, DCC dropped its second set of modifications to the proposed regulations. When DCC’s rules take effect,
As we blogged about last week, the SAFE Banking Act is trying to claw its way back from the dead during this lame duck session of Congress. Interestingly, on December 2, Punchbowl News reported that the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a memo outlining its “issues” with the SAFE Banking Act. Here’s the memo (“Memo”).
This Thursday, December 8, 2022, the City of Los Angeles will open Phase 3, Round 2 of storefront retail licensing. The City will only accept applications from verified social equity applicants. It will select winners via a “triple-blind” lottery, awarding up to 100 retail licenses. But a guy in Michigan is trying to prevent the
