United States Patent and Trademark Office Relaxes ban on THC and Marijuana Related Trademarks

Under federal law, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will not register a mark for any illegal products. However, the USPTO, in May released an update to it’s examination guidelines to clarify its interpretation of the 2018 Farm Bill. Under the 2018 farm bill, “hemp” is no longer considered a controlled substance.

Under the new examination guidelines and in accordance to the 2018 Farm Bill, the USPTO will no longer reject a mark that is directed to a “hemp” product or service, as opposed to “marijuana” product or service. Currently, any THC, or CBD, or any other Cannabis derived product with less than 0.3% THC on a dry weight basis, would be entitled to a trademark, granted all other requirements for a federally registered trademark were satisfied.

Interested companies should not that these examination guidelines apply only to trademark applications. Patent applications before the USPTO do not have analogous requirements that the product to be patented is a legal product.

The USPTO’s updated guidelines can be reached here.

If you are interested in how these relaxed requirements fit into your business, please feel free to contact us.