Patent Attorney and Founder
Hi everyone, I’m J.D. Houvener, your host of the Bold Today Show. We’re here for the inventor, entrepreneur, or business owner, providing your daily inspiration to make the world a better place. Today, we’re talking about cannabis and the industry that has captured a lot of our interest. We’ve witnessed numerous stores popping up, and the continuous stream of news articles highlights the substantial business activities in many states. As mentioned earlier this week, almost 30 states out of our 50 have some level of recreational or medical marijuana as part of their legal business.
So, today, I want to talk about patent law in terms of cannabis and what’s patentable. A common question I receive is whether marijuana can be patented, and the answer is yes. Unlike trademark law, where there are restrictions related to crossing state borders due to controlled substance issues, patent law doesn’t face such limitations. You can protect cannabis in three major ways:
- Protecting the Plant: This involves the utility aspect of new methods of manufacturing, business methods, or parts of cultivation.
- Utility Patents: These can protect various aspects, such as new methods of packaging, unique devices, chemical processes, and more.
- Design Patents: If you have a new apparatus or device used in the manufacturing or production of marijuana, you can protect it under design patents.
One aspect I want to highlight is plant patents. To obtain a plant patent, you need to prove that the plant is sexually reproducible. This poses a challenge as many plants that only reproduce by seeds may not qualify. However, hybrid seeds or genetically modified seeds produced in a lab setting, which function to produce a unique bud, flower, or shrub with distinct characteristics, are protectable under plant patents.
On the utility patent side, there’s a wide range of protectable subject matter, including packaging methods, unique devices, chemical processes, and more. The intersection of patent law and cannabis is quite dynamic, and if you have questions or a new idea, our team of attorneys, who have delved into this field, are ready to discuss it with you. Visit our website at boldpatents.com, check out our team page, review our publications, and book your free 30-minute consultation directly from the website.
I’m your host J.D. Houvener of the Bold Today’s Show. Go big, go bold.