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    Cannabis (Intellectual Property – IP)

 

  • Consultation for the brand establishment, copyright registration, domain name issues, evaluation of intellectual property (IP) portfolios in anticipation of purchase or sale, Federal and state trademark clearance searches, IP asset due diligence, IP licensing, IP rights enforcement, state trademark registration, technology licensing, trade secrets.

 

  • Consultation regarding the cannabis-related applications and patents already in the United States (US) Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database, such as cannabis products, cannabis plants, cleansing pesticides, consumption devices, extraction and processing methods, methods for medical cannabis use.

 

  • Possibility of attempting to register a trademark and logo for a cannabis-related business at the state level, or at the Federal level for a type of business that does not itself violate Federal statutes and does not reference cannabis, such as for a holding company.

 

  • Use of utility patents for new, improved, innovative or useful products in and of themselves, such as cross-breeding methods, devices, extraction apparatus, extraction methods, growing methods, new hemp uses, new strains containing less than 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) (requires a new seed or tissue culture deposit).

 

  • A plant patent may be issued for a living plant with a unique genetic makeup or genotype, which may be duplicated only through artificial asexual means, and may be available for cannabis plant genotypes regardless of THC content.

 

  • Compliance with the Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA) for marijuana and hemp with less than 0.3% THC (requires a deposit of 3,000 seeds).

 

  • Trademark protection for strain names may be accomplished by first giving the new strain a scientific name, and then a unique brand name that does not reference cannabis and should not be similar to the varietal name, and then license the new strain along with the patent that protects the genotype.

 

  • Assisted with trademark clearance assessments and IP due diligence related to a merger of cannabis-related businesses.

 

  • Typical IP due diligence for tasks such as, analysis of a target’s IP portfolio in a merger to determine that such target’s asset or brand is protected sufficiently, confirming actual ownership of IP claimed by the target, determining whether the target has sufficient freedom to operate (FTO) for all the assets and brands that will be acquired.

 

  • Analyzed in collaboration with subject matter experts (SMEs) any third-party patents that may inhibit the FTO, to determine whether they enforceable.

 

  • anaged IP portfolios, preparing and filed trademark applications and registrations.

 

  • Consultation for representation in opposition and cancellation proceedings.

 

  • Consultation for representation in trademark infringement matters, such for trademark, trade dress trade name and trademark dilution.

 

  • Representation for other IP issues, such as cybersquatting, false advertising and unfair competition.

 

  • Representation for Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) arbitration involving domain name infringement and cybersquatting.

 

  • Compliance with the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA).

 

  • Legal support for domestic and international media services, such as acquisition of rights in underlying literary properties, co-productions, content licensing, copyright licensing, format licensing, media development, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), production, production finance, script rights.

 

  • Negotiation and drafting of various media-related agreements, contracts and documents, such as for actors, chain of title, directors, distribution, options, production, script writers, streaming.

 

    Last updated 200817_1445

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