Protect Your Brand
With Cannabis Trademark Applications and Enforcement
Trademark Applications In The Cannabis Industry
Your business and product names, as well as their overall look and feel, create a unique commercial impression. Consumers look for names and logos they already know to confirm that they are getting the same product they have previously experienced and enjoyed. These concepts hold true whether in the context of fast food or cannabis. However, unlike other consumer goods, cannabis and psychedelics are controlled substances that are federally illegal.
Brand names and logos related to cannabis and psychedelic products can still receive protection, whether at a state level or by securing a registered trademark from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) for goods or services associated with the cannabis or psychedelic product.
How To Enforce Your Cannabis Trademark
Generally, it is easier to protect your brand name and logo from infringers if you have a registered trademark. That means applying for and receiving a trademark application for specific goods or services. At Rattner Law, we help clients protect their trademarks by assisting with registration at both state and federal levels. We also help our clients stop others from selling goods bearing confusingly similar names and logos.
Using Your Cannabis Trademark In An IP Licensing Deal
Some of the most iconic cannabis brands have managed to spread across the United States through intellectual property licensing deals. Intellectual property licensing deals allow cannabis brands to expand their geographic footprint from one state to many others much more cheaply than applying for and operating licenses in several states. In those deals, the brand allows an adult-use cannabis licensee in another state to use its trademarks on products grown and manufactured in that other state.
Keep in mind, though, that quality, consistency, and compliance are paramount. Any such intellectual property licensing agreement must contain strong protections for the brand owner to ensure that the finished cannabis goods have very similar, if not identical, characteristics to the original cannabis product.
Cannabis Trademark Services Provided By Rattner Law
- State trademark applications
- Federal trademark applications
- Responses to Office Actions
- Trademark maintenance
- Enforcement of trademark and copyrights against infringers and knockoff products
- Opposition, Cancellation, and Concurrent Use proceedings before the United States Trademark Trial and Appeal Board
- Federal trademark and copyright litigation
- Intellectual property licensing agreements
- White labeling agreements
Why Work With Rattner Law?
At Rattner Law, we serve as your counselors in brand development and protection. Our attorneys offer insights into the strength and registrability of a trademark before our client seeks to register that trademark. We also develop and implement comprehensive brand protection strategies that take into account the federal illegality of cannabis products and psychedelics and other federal laws that are likely to impact registrations for related, hemp-derived products, for example.
We also help our clients expand across the United States through comprehensive intellectual property licensing agreements to ensure that a consumer in New York, for example, receives the same product experience that the consumer in California, Colorado, Michigan, or Oregon receives.
However, registering a trademark and ensuring consistent quality are not enough. The brand owner must also protect against infringers and others who are getting too close to the overall look and feel of the brand. That’s why Rattner Law also offers brand protection services to our clients, ranging from cease-and-desist letters to federal litigation.
Additionally, Rattner Law’s attorneys are experienced in preventing another business from obtaining a trademark registration in the first place by bringing opposition and cancellation proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the USPTO.
All Practice Areas By Rattner Law
Protecting your business’ intellectual property is critical to ensuring long term success (or a high valuation if your plan is to ultimately sell the business). That is why Rattner Law offers trademark application and enforcement as part of our comprehensive suite of legal services
These services include:
- Entity selection and formation
- Corporate governance documentation (i.e., operating agreements, shareholder agreements, etc.)
- Corporate governance advice
- Cannabis license applications
- Regulatory compliance and advice
- Contract review and interpretation
- Contract negotiation and drafting
- Deal structuring
- Mergers, acquisitions, and exits
- Real estate transactions
- Advocacy work before municipalities and community boards
- Fractional outside general counsel
- Labor and employment
- Intellectual property licensing
- Intellectual property litigation
- Business and commercial litigation
- Partnership disputes
- Mediation
- Arbitration
- Article 78 litigation
FAQs About About Cannabis Trademarks
Can you trademark a cannabis brand?
Trick question with a very lawyerly answer: it depends. There are goods and services that relate to a brand found on cannabis products that can receive federal trademark protection. However, the USPTO will not trademark cannabis products because they are unlawful under the Controlled Substances Act. By contrast, some states allow cannabis products to receive trademark registrations.
What is the difference between federal and state trademark applications?
Federal trademark applications can be more complex and the review process often takes longer. In addition, cannabis products and paraphernalia cannot be federally trademarked. However, that does not necessarily bar registration at the state level.
What is a name that cannot be used as a brand name in the cannabis industry?
As with other industries, you cannot trademark a brand name that is already in use by someone else. Similarly, a brand name or logo that is confusingly similar to an existing brand should not be used.
What do you do if someone is infringing on your cannabis trademark?
If you believe that someone is infringing your brand’s trademark, the first step is to gather evidence of infringement. On what goods or services does the infringing trademark appear? How widespread is the infringement? Is there evidence that consumers are mistaking the infringing product or service for your product or service? Once those facts are known, we can devise a comprehensive protection strategy to stop the infringement and prevent future instances of infringement as well.
Contact Rattner Law
445 Hamilton Ave. Suite 1102, White Plains, NY 10601
Hours: 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. EST
info@rattner-law.com
(914) 220-5468
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