Trademark laundering was barred.
Benjamin Harbuck 23, Senior Managing Associate at Dentons, 5/15/2023, “TTAB Upholds USPTO Policy Prohibiting Registrations in Trademarks Claiming Cannabis Paraphernalia,” https://www.dentons.com/en/insights/newsletters/2023/may/15/ttab-upholds-uspto-policy-prohibiting-registrations-in-trademarks-claiming-cannabis-paraphernalia, kav
Earlier this month, in the case of In re National Concessions Group, Inc., TTAB Ex Parte Appeal No. 87168058, the US Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) upheld the US Patent and Trademark Office’s (“USPTO”) policy of applying the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”) to refuse trademark registration for cannabis paraphernalia, even where the trademark application does not explicitly claim cannabis-related goods but the goods are primarily intended to be used with cannabis, and regardless of expanded state cannabis legalization.
The ruling has implications for trademark protection for cannabis related items and arguably for the application of the state law authorization exemption to the federal paraphernalia prohibition. For example, while it may have previously been the case that federal trademark applications relating to cannabis paraphernalia occasionally obtained registration by avoiding mention of cannabis, the USPTO is now more likely to closely scrutinize such applications for possible cannabis connections. And, USPTO trademark examiners who may have previously expressed some confusion in implementing the USPTO’s existing policy in relation to marks claiming cannabis paraphernalia goods (as opposed to cannabis itself) will be more likely to confidently refuse registration of cannabis paraphernalia with this new TTAB precedent to back them up.