The tree is shaking in the world of cannabis trademark litigation, and it is illuminating to see what chestnuts are falling out onto the ground. Canna Law Blog provides a good background on the Woodstock (yes, that Woodstock) case and its current developments:

“Here, the court didn’t think that consumers were likely to be confused by two parties selling smokers’ articles and cannabis under identical marks. The court noted that the Defendants had “expressly disavowed the notion that their products are intended for use with recreational marijuana” during their trademark prosecution process, something that was necessary for them to procure federal trademark protection, but is now a fact that can be used against them in their argument for likelihood of confusion.”

We have been preaching the inefficiency of that very approach to federal protection for some time. In short, if you own a cannabis brand, you want some federal acknowledgement of your brand’s connection to that industry. Pretending to be a lighters and ashtrays company for the sake of gaining federal registration might not cut it…in fact, it may be detrimental.