I’ve got some clients who are interested in protecting their (legal) marijuana trademarks: both medical and recreational.
Since they’re interested, I’m interested.
And, besides, I think it’s just plain interesting. Illegal on the federal level. Legal in some states for medical uses. Legal in Washington and Colorado for recreational uses. Illegal at airports. Illegal across state lines. It’s a legal mess, all right. But we’ll help sort it out this week at the King County Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Section’s monthly brown bag lunch. March 6, noon to 1. Members can attend live or stream on their computer. Information on the IP Law Section here.
The nickel version of my thoughts: marijuana trademarks are like all other trademarks, except for the “lawful use” requirement at the federal level. In short, you can’t register marks for marijuana-oriented goods or services with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, because those uses aren’t legal. So you should register “clean” versions of your client’s goods and services at the federal level, and the marijuana uses where legal at the state level. Just don’t get too cute with the PTO (like “MARYJANE HEMP FOODS” for food supplements) or the PTO will require you to answer some pretty direct questions about whether your client’s goods contain marijuana.
My slides are viewable here.
Bring your questions, best practices, and best guess at what the law will look like in five years.