NEWS

 CBD and CANNABIS

 With the legalization of cannabis in a number of states, interest in trademarks for cannabis related products is rising.  Currently, however, it is currently not possible to register a federal trademark in the U.S. for cannabis related products as the position of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is that sales of cannabis products are not legal (on a federal level) and therefore “use in commerce” is not possible as such use must be lawful.  For CBD products, some applicants try to specify that the CBD is hemp based, trying to avoid that the product might be marijuana based.  However, the Trademark Office typical position has been that CBD remains illegal regardless of its origin because it cannot be extracted without coming into contact with some levels of THC or that the term “industrial hemp” identifies goods that are prohibited by the Controlled Substance Act.  However, registration has been allowed for products with “naturally occurring amounts of CBD”.  Having said that, note that there are a few issued registrations with “naturally occurring CBD” and “CBD derived from industrial hemp” in the goods list, or other restrictions to limit the CBD to sources considered legal (federally). 

 Registration at the state level is available in Oregon, however. 

 The recent passage of the “farm bill” into law may change the ability to register federally with respect to hemp based CBD.  As of January 2019, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office was awaiting directives as to how to proceed with regard to such CBD related trademark applications.  “This is government.  Thing move slowly.”