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60 IDEA 502 (2020)
Blunt Advice: A Crash Course in Cannabis Trademarks

handle is hein.journals/idea60 and id is 524 raw text is: 502 BLUNT ADVICE: A CRASH COURSE IN CANNABIS TRADEMARKS JOHN GILBERTSON ABSTRACT Cannabis brands are going mainstream, and they want trademark protection. Getting it, however, is easier said than done. Because cannabis is largely illegal at the federal level, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will not bestow federal registration on trademarks used in connection with products having greater than 0.30 THC content-even in states which have legalized recreational cannabis use. This presents a problem to cannabis brands, because federal registration offers the broadest trademark protection. The effect is that cannabis brands must navigate a confusing patchwork of state-level trademark laws to cobble together whatever common-law rights they can muster. There are, however, a number of recent and continuing developments in the law, the knowledge of which will enable a savvy cannabis company to maximize its brand protection in the face of an uncertain landscape. For example, the Supreme Court has demonstrated a marked willingness over the past few decades to curtail government restrictions on commercial speech. This includes two recent decisions, Matal v. Tam and lancu v. Brunetti, in which the Court struck down two substantial Lanham Act provisions-the disparagement clause and the immoral/scandalous bar as unconstitutional speech restriction. * J.D., Drake University Law School, 2020; B.A., Berklee College of Music, 2007. 60 IDEA 502 (2020)

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