Federal and state synchronization are key.

Another option is to obtain trademark registrations in all states where the mark is being used. Like federal registration, state registration confers certain benefits on trademark owners beyond those obtained simply through [*542] common law use. Registration is possible in all states which have legalized the recreational use of marijuana, as well as most states which have legalized it for medicinal purposes, which is upwards of thirty-three states as of the date of this Article. 164This entitles registrants to sue infringers in state court.

This approach has a few drawbacks. One is that unlike federal registration, which grants presumptive nationwide priority regardless of the mark's geographic scope of use, only four states (Florida, Massachusetts, Texas, and Virginia) do the same thing for state-registered marks; the rest simply rubber-stamp the mark's common law rights with "registered" status. 165 This limits a trademark owner's ability to enjoin use of a confusingly similar variant outside the owner's geographic area of use--the same remedy available for unregistered common law marks. 166 In those states which do not confer statewide priority, it is thus unclear how much advantage state registrations will provide.

Other drawbacks exist as well. For one, not all states permit ITU applications. 167Nor do they offer an opportunity to acquire incontestability status after five years, or the ability to ask customs officials to block imports of goods bearing confusingly similar marks. This arrangement also doesn't permit any would-be licensing arrangements across state lines, although this will likely change with the USDA's new interim rule for the domestic [*543] production of hemp, published for public comment on October 31, 2019. 168Still further, use of the (R) symbol is reserved exclusively for federally registered marks. The bottom line is that despite the availability of resources at the state level to protect cannabis-related trademark rights, a lack of sync between state and federal law places cannabis brands at a significant disadvantage in establishing and enforcing their trademark rights.