Ganjapreneur report
A federal judge this week ordered Republic Brands, the makers of OCB rolling papers, to pay $1.5 million to HBI International, the parent company behind RAW rolling papers, for copyright and trade dress infringement.
A federal judge on Monday ordered Republic Brands, makers of OCB rolling papers, to pay $1.5 million to HBI International, makers of RAW rolling papers, for infringing on the RAW copyright and trade dress. The ruling concludes a seven-year court battle between the two companies.
In a statement, Josh Kesselman, RAW founder, said the company was “pleased with the outcome, but that doesn’t make this any less frustrating.”
“Republic has persistently filed lawsuit after lawsuit against our company, perhaps because of our success. We intend to donate the net proceeds we will receive, now that this case is resolved, to organizations working to help small businesses in the cannabis field, particularly businesses that are startups involving individuals who were previously convicted of nonviolent cannabis related crimes. We’re hopeful that Republic will now cease its relentless effort to destroy our business and focus, like us, on helping the emerging cannabis industry achieve greater equity in the marketplace.” — Kesselman in a press release
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