The law is always in motion, but there are few practice areas that can compare to the breakneck speed of marijuana laws, which are in rapid flux around the globe.
As marijuana transitions from a patchwork of gray market operators into a global marketing opportunity, high-level players are eager to jump in on the ground floor, and trademark attorney Haque is keeping pace, and helping an increasingly sophisticated client base establish and protect their brands.
Because marijuana is still illegal under federal law, to get a trademark registration, "you really have to wrack your brain," Haque said. But ingenuity works. "It's very rewarding," she said. "Creatively, it gives you a boost."
Yes, there are name brands in marijuana marketing, and there will be more. The image of a marijuana entrepreneur as a shuffling stoner with hydroponic dirt under his nails doesn't depict Haque's clients - or how quickly the market is evolving.
Not long ago, Haque needed to work to convince her clients - often cultivators or dispensary owners - that protecting trademarks was important. Now, as more business-savvy professionals with backgrounds in art, fashion and design come through the door, that's no longer the case. They're thinking big picture, so Haque does too.
"The kind of people coming in is changing," she said. "We have so many people who want to take their brand globally - not only national, but international.
"It's a lot of learning for me," she said. "Before, I was only concerned with U.S. trademark law. But last night I was up until 5:00 a.m., going through European trademark law."
One of Haque's clients is luxury cannabis brand Beboe, described in Harper's Bazaar as a product "for a more sophisticated weed consumer" and in The New York Times style section as "The Hermès of Marijuana."
"The co-founder was in the fashion industry, and their vision is to create a high-end line of cannabis products, with high-quality packaging and finished product," Haque explained. "When you have nice perfume bottles, and the packaging is so beautiful you want to save it - that's the same idea."
Such a product would have previously been unimaginable, but now, brands like these are Haque's daily bread.
"With marijuana, it's a constant challenge. That's what's very exciting - every day, something new is happening in this industry." She laughs, "It literally keeps me up at night."
— L.J. Williamson
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