Cannabis Law Blog

On Friday, August 9, 2019, Governor Murphy signed the New Jersey Hemp Farming Act (the “Hemp Farming Act”) into law, paving the way for hemp farming in the Garden State.  Although New Jersey previously enacted an Industrial Hemp Pilot Program, that legislation was essentially mooted by the federal 2018 Farm Bill.  » Read More

As discussed in our prior blog, on July 22, 2019, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a Warning Letter to Curaleaf, Inc., in connection with its marketing of certain CBD products. The following day, Curaleaf issued a statement asserting that it was committed to compliance.» Read More

Employers in New Jersey and New York City need to review their drug testing policies and employment practices considering laws recently enacted to protect employees (and applicants) who are authorized to use medical marijuana under state medical marijuana statutes.

On July 2, 2019, New Jersey joined a handful of other states affording employment protections for job applicants and employees who are legally authorized medical marijuana patients. » Read More

Parody is a common type of marketing strategy, and has notoriously been prevalent in the cannabis space, particularly with flowers and edibles.  However, such use of another’s trademark or trade dress can be a recipe for litigation.  The case of Mondelëz Canada Inc.» Read More

Yesterday, the FDA issued another Warning Letter in connection with the sale of CBD products, this time to well-known cannabis purveyor Curaleaf, Inc. (which operates one of our six medical dispensaries here in New Jersey and operates four dispensaries in New York). » Read More

As of July 1, 2019, the New York City Department of Health (DOH) started embargoing cannabidiol (CBD) food and beverage products. The DOH is basing this enforcement policy on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) current position that it is unlawful to add CBD to food or beverages.» Read More

Under the 2018 Farm Bill, CBD derived from industrial hemp falls outside the Controlled Substances Act, but CBD-infused food and beverages and dietary supplements must still comply with the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and are subject to the authority of the FDA.  » Read More

I was honored to be a panelist at the New York City Bar Association’s event “The Cannabis Goldrush and the IP Landgrab” this week.  The title of my presentation was “Trends in Cannabis Patenting.”  I began with examples of the three types of patent (utility, design, and plant) before moving onto the somewhat related Plant Variety Protection Act. » Read More

Cannabis-related U.S. patents have been issued since at least the mid-1990s. We previously discussed the United Cannabis Corp. v. Pure Hemp Collective Inc. case in a previous blog post, in which a biotechnology company sued a vendor of cannabis extracts for patent infringement.» Read More

In New York, politicians typically favor incremental action rather than sweeping legislation.  This may explain the Legislature’s failure to legalize adult recreational marijuana this term.  However, the legislators have passed a bill, A08420, which amends New York penal law and criminal procedure law as they relate to criminal charges stemming from possession of small amounts of marijuana. » Read More