BACKGROUND Plaintiff Kiva Health Brands LLC (“Kiva Health”) sells health and wellness food and food supplements. Defendant Kiva Brands, Inc. (“Kiva Brands”) is a leading provider of cannabis-infused chocolates and confections. Where, as here, state law would permit confusing or deceptive trademarks to operate, the state law would, under the Supremacy Clause, be preempted, citing Golden Door, Inc. v. The Court considered and rejected Kiva Brands’ argument that Kiva Health’s trademark does not supersede the valid common law rights Kiva Brands acquired under state law. Here, Kiva Brands’ products are all infused with cannabis, which, while legal in California, remains illegal under federal law.
Source: JD Supra
As cannabis products become legal in more and more states, commercial interest grows in protecting the trademarks associated with those products. The United States Patent and Trademark Office has maintained its refusal to register trademarks for most cannabis-based products on the ground that use of those products is federally unlawful. But what about state or common law rights in trademarks for cannabis products? In a recent order denying summary judgment, the Northern District of California in Kiva Health Brands, Inc. v. Kiva Brands, Inc. held that a party’s state and common law trademark did not...
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