21 September 2016
Here’s the introduction to his piece…
“Rapper Snoop Dogg and a Washington State marijuana entrepreneur learned the hard way that cannabis businesses must tread carefully when it comes to trademark protection.
Both recently encountered trademark snafus, underscoring the pitfalls cannabis companies face. Still, MJ entrepreneurs do have options to safeguard their names, logos and other intellectual property.
Experts said state-level trade protection is one option, given that federal trademark protection typically is unavailable for plant-touching companies because of marijuana’s status as a Schedule 1 controlled substance.
Cannabis entrepreneurs also can turn to “common law” trademark rights, experts said. And it helps to have a distinctive trademark or brand that stands out from the crowd.
At the very least, experts advised, MJ business owners should educate themselves about what options are available – and seek them out.
“Trademarks are the king,” Ohio attorney Howard Cohn said. “All you sell, really, is your intellectual property. Which means … it’s very important to protect it. Because if you don’t, you don’t have anything to sell.”
Read the full article at http://mjbizdaily.com/trademarks-some-but-not-many-protections-for-cannabis-companies/
