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How to Protect Your Intellectual Property
In some respects, the hemp industry resembles a gold rush. Fledgling and mature companies and entrepreneurial individuals are aggressively staking claims on new products and businesses. As in other evolving industries, entrepreneurs would be wise to consider how to protect their market position as a part of prudent due diligence.
Imagine you seek or your backers have invested money in a hemp-related endeavor. In an ideal world, identifying what will make your product or service unique, protecting that point(s) of uniqueness, and creating a barrier to block or discourage incursion or copying by your competitors would be easy. To those ends, your intellectual property (IP) rights may play a significant role. Such strategies resemble the way IP rights protect investments in other, more established industries.
Start-up hemp entities can benefit from the experience of companies in other emerging business spaces. Such experience has shown IP protection must be incorporated in a new business’s planning and due-diligence activity to secure a foothold and maximize protection. Some, but not all, aspects of a successful business can be protected by existing IP law. If they choose, many hemp-based entrepreneurs can build a portfolio of IP rights to protect their proprietary information, innovation, and trademarks while warding off the competition.
Several options for protecting IP exist: patents, trademarks, and trade secrets. Selecting a prudent mix of IP protection requires keen attention be focused on the advantages and limitations of each form.
Patents
U.S. patents are granted by the federal government. They give an owner the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling, or importing the subject matter covered by the patent claims. Inventors seeking a patent must file an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). An examiner reviews the application and allows a patent if the claimed invention meets numerous requirements for patentability. Requirements include novelty, non-obviousness, utility, and subject matter eligibility. To satisfy the novelty requirement, be sure to file a patent application within a grace period: one year of first use or sale or offer for sale. For international patents, a U.S. application must precede the first use, sale, or offer for sale; there is no grace period.
When the patent issues, the inventors or owners get a right to enforce the patent to prevent infringing activities in the U.S. for twenty years, measured from the application filing date. Enforcement may include stopping or discouraging the competition or licensing the patent. This means licensees must pay you for the privilege of using your technology.
Three types of patents are available in the U.S.
- Utility patents (provisional and non-provisional) protect machines, what they make, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and other compositions of matter and processes.
- Plant patents protect new varieties of asexually-reproduced plants (e.g., by grafting, layering, and micropropagation).
- Design patents cover the aesthetic appearance of an article.
Utility and plant patents potentially are relevant to hemp-related businesses.
More than 3,000 utility patents have issued in the U.S. covering various aspects and types of cannabis products and related technologies. For example, the USPTO has granted patents on cannabis varieties for which the developers alleged medical or pharmaceutical uses, such as effectiveness against certain diseases or health problems. Other patents have issued in technologies incidental to the plant itself that may have more general horticultural uses. These include, for example, processing techniques, growing media, system-controlled greenhouses, and growing environments and lighting.
Some hemp-related inventions or strains may be protected by plant patents. Protection under plant patents could extend to new variants or hybrids. One downside of plant patent protection, however, is the claims of plant patents are limited to the specific plant variety described in the patent. Such patents do not have the potentially broad scope of utility patents. But narrow protection can be valuable and used to deter or stop a competitor from cloning your plant variety.
Before committing a significant investment of time or money, prudent due diligence includes investigating whether the manufacture, use, or sales activity may infringe the valid patent rights of others. A sophisticated investor is likely to ask such a question. They may ask for the written opinion you received from your intellectual property attorney, so be prepared.
Trademarks
You should do what you can to protect your brand name or mark, which may be protected under state and federal law. In general, trademark law protects the owner of a mark from unfair competition by third-party deliberate or innocent use of confusingly similar marks or services, including logos, brand names, and product configurations.
Trademark protection can be offered under state trademark law or by the federal Lanham Act. State law may provide local protection from confusingly similar use of a mark in the same geographic market. Federal registration provides nationwide protection and may be available if the trademark is used in interstate commerce (i.e., not solely within a state).
Cannabis use is still illegal at the federal level, so the USPTO has taken the position trademarks associated with cannabis products and services cannot be registered since they cannot legally be used in interstate commerce, even if the intrastate sale of cannabis is lawful in the state(s) where the trademark is being used.
The 2018 farm bill permits the production and marketing of hemp that has no or minimal tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) levels (i.e., less than 0.3 percent). This removes the basis for rejecting trademark registrations for marks used in connection with hemp and hemp-related products. If all other requirements for registrability are met, the USPTO should permit registration of trademarks used with hemp-based products and services, particularly if the trademark application is carefully crafted.
Trade secrets
Trade secret protection may be available under state law and may be enforced in federal and state courts. A broad range of proprietary information can be protected, including recipes, processes, and know-how, plus customer lists and sales information. Trade secret protection may be appropriate when proprietary information, not generally known to the public, confers an economic advantage on the user and is the subject of reasonable safeguards to protect the confidentiality of the information.
Various aspects of hemp-related businesses may be protected as trade secrets. These include, for example, growing techniques, methods for processing products, the composition of media or nutrients administered during cultivation, business plans, and sales forecasts. To gain protection, an entrepreneur should memorialize the trade secret information and implement reasonable safeguards to maintain secrecy, such as a practice of using non-disclosure agreements and visitor logs, password-protecting sensitive files, etc.
Conclusion
The industry is a dynamic and rapidly growing segment of the economy. A legal landscape facing emerging entrepreneurs continues to evolve as the USPTO and courts consider the IP limits of hemp- and cannabis-related technologies. Nevertheless, existing IP laws provide an opportunity for entrepreneurs to create a portfolio of IP rights that may protect their enterprises from competition.
Potential acquirers may put significant value on an IP portfolio. Such an asset could make your business attractive to a buyer, who may be interested in acquiring or licensing the fruits of your labors.
As in many endeavors, the sin of omission exceeds the sin of commission. Smart, informed choices mandate doing your homework. Seek advice from IP counsel at an early stage and throughout your entrepreneurial activity.
For more than thirty-five years, William Abbatt’s practice has focused on all aspects of domestic and foreign patent preparation, prosecution, and assertion, including dispute resolution. He regularly counsels clients on the development and management of patent portfolios, including how to protect inventions and monetize them by sale and licensing.
Heartland
30 Best Stoner Coloring Books on Amazon
We’ve put together a comprehensive list of the 30 best stoner coloring books on Amazon! These weed-themed coloring books make …
Read more30 Best Stoner Coloring Books on Amazon
The post 30 Best Stoner Coloring Books on Amazon appeared first on The Cannabis School.
We’ve put together a comprehensive list of the 30 best stoner coloring books on Amazon! These weed-themed coloring books make for a fun activity that helps spark your creativity and imagination. Each coloring book found below will have a direct link to it’s listing on Amazon, this will help you easily view or purchase it. Activities like this help enhance the cannabis experience by allowing the user to concentrate on a fun task. The level of your visual indulgence during your “high” is important in determining how much you’ll enjoy it. In other words, what better tools for meditation and recreation than cannabis and coloring?
The condensed list below contains the links to all the best stoner coloring books found in this article:
Condensed List:
- The Stoner’s Psychedelic Coloring Book
- A Coloring Book For Stoners: Stress Relieving Psychedelic Art For Adults
- Let’s Get High And Color: An Adult Coloring Book
- Stoner Things: Stoner Coloring Book
- Stoner Things Volume 2: Colouring Book for Adults
- Princess Stoner Coloring Book
- Disney Princess Stoner Coloring Book:
- Princess Stoner Coloring Book: Great Coloring Book For Adults Stress Relief & Relaxation
- Princess Coloring Book: Cool and Relaxing Design – Great Coloring Book for Adults Relaxation and Stress Relief
- Disney Stoner Colouring Book:
- The Stoner Babes Coloring Book By Katie Guinn
- Trippy Chicks Adult Coloring Book
- Stoner Coloring Book: The Psychedelic Coloring Book for Relaxation and Stress Relief, Stoner Coloring
- Animals Smoking Weed: Colouring Book By Kristin Harris
- Wiz Khalifa’s Weed Farm Coloring Book
- Fresh Baked Cannabis Coloring Book for Weed Lovers: Volume 3
- Fresh Baked Cannabis Coloring Book for Weed Lovers: Fun Marijuana and Pot Themed Images to Color – Volume 1
- Fresh Baked Cannabis Coloring Book
- Marijuana Strains: Adult Coloring Book
- Stoner Coloring Book: The Stoner’s Psychedelic Coloring Book
- Trippy Advisor- An Irreverent Coloring Book For Adults:
- Day Trip: The Stoner’s Psychedelic Coloring Book
- Stoner Coloring Book: A Psychedelic Coloring Book for Adults
- Not Your Kids Stoner Coloring Book:
- A Psychedelic Coloring Book For Adults:
- Psychedelic Coloring Book
- The Trippy Hippie Coloring Book
- Reefer Madness Mandala and Quote Coloring Book For Adults:
- Stoner Activity Book
- High Life Coloring & Activity Book (Volume 1)

Red, glossy eyes are the trademark of a good high. This stoner coloring book features 25 hand-drawn stoner designs for you to color. With 50 pages in total, you don’t even have to worry about ruining the next page’s design with your color’s tint.
It comes in two price variants, $7.99 for paperback and $20.49 for a spiral bound book, perfect for gifts! Oh and it has a free PDF inside too!
Product Features:
- 25 unique designs
- 50 single side printing on both white and black papers
- Available in paperback and spiral bound variants
- Free PDF!
If you liked this, check out a similar one below:

Price: $4.99

Get your hands on this humorous coloring book which includes 17 unique designs and “black light” versions of 15 of them, making a total of 33 pages to color!
Product Features:
- 66 total pages with 33 single-side printed pages to color
- 17 unique designs
- Glossy paper
- Suitable for pencil colours, markers, pens and crayons

With the title inspired by the Netflix hit show “Stranger Things”, this is a perfect gift for fans of the show! The book includes 16 unique designs and also includes inverted background versions for many of them. One of the best stoner coloring books.
Product Features:
- 31 pages to colour
- 16 unique designs
- Glossy paper
- Suitable for color pencils, pens, markers and crayons.
Not quite satisfied? Check out another “Stranger Things” inspired option below!


Calling all our stoner girls! This Disney princess inspired stoner coloring book has all your favourite Disney princess stories with a 420 twist. Now you get to reimagine all the fairytales while in your most creative state.
Product Features:
- 27 unique designs 54 pages in total
- Single side high quality printed pages
- Suitable for colouring pencils, markers, crayons etc
If you liked this theme, check out similar princess stoner colouring books below!




Another one for our Disney lovers, because who doesn’t love this dynamic six! We can already hear Donald Duck’s high quacks!
Product Features:
- 25 unique illustrations
- High quality paper
- Single side printing
- 8.5*11 inches size

This artistic representation of empowered women and gender fluid people who relish the herb is a wonderful gift for all the intellectual and mindful people in your friend circle. With over 60 intricate images of tattoos, marijuana bouquets, patterned garb, shape-filled backgrounds and gorgeous faces, you’ll find new meanings to life inspired by the art in this colouring book!
Product Features:
- 60 single-sided printed pages
- High-quality paper
- 8.5*11 inches size
- Suitable for pencil colours, crayons, markers etc.
If you liked this artistry, then check out the next similar one below!

The Trippy Chicks Coloring book features mystical women channelling their inner goddesses. Expect to find religious symbols, long locks, reptiles and mandalas.

Presenting another gift option for our stoner guys, although with designs so intricate and detailed, even the girls won’t be able to resist it. You can draw for days on end with this book, filling it with colours and creating your own psychedelic paradise.
Product Features:
- Premium glossy cover
- Single sided pages to avoid bleed through
- 8.5*11 inches size
- High quality white paper

From the Dinosaurs of Jurassic Park to reefer madness and game of stoned, this book is guaranteed to leave you in fits of laughter. Kristin Harris really amped up his game with this one!
Product Features:
- 26 unique images
- Test image to try out your colors
- High-quality paper
- 8.5*11 inches size

Wiz Khalifa is back yet again with a pro-cannabis statement in the form of his new product “The Wiz Khalifa Weed Farm Coloring Book”.
This stress-relieving coloring book is slightly on the pricier edge, going at $14.95, but is rightly so, because with featured iconic images from LA to Amsterdam and events like Danksgiving and Wiz’s Birthday, it’s a direct sneak peek into Khalifa’s weed empire!

The Fresh Baked series is a designer brainchild of independent artists who came together to design fun pot-themed images and humourous marijuana designs for people who like to relieve stress through coloring while high.
Product Features:
- Fun cannabis inspired designs
- Original images
- High-quality paper
- 8.5*11 inches size
- Part of a series of three
If you liked this, be sure to check out Fresh Baked Volume 1 and 2! A perfect gift bundle for Birthdays or Christmas!


Not all Cannabis is the same. There are a ton of varieties and so many different strains to choose from. Check out this colouring book that not only lets you have a fun time with Cannabis, but also educates you on the different varieties out there. The book has illustrations of popular strains like the Harlequin, Grape Ape, Dance World, Cherry Pie, Frankenstein, and Laughing Buddha. One of the best stoner coloring books.
So gather your friends and take turns to color and try the Cannabis varieties drawn in the book, who knows, you may find your next favourite party strain here!
Product Features:
- Paperback
- Unique Illustrations
- Cannabis strain designs
- 8.5*11 inches size

Does your trip make you feel like a part of an alternate universe too? If so, you will love this coloring book that transports you directly into a psychedelic world.
Product Features:
- 30 high quality illustrations
- Single side printing to avoid bleed through
- 8.5 x 11’’ size
If you liked this, check out similar books that also promise a great trip!






Marijuana, meditate and contemplate: that’s our mantra. With 35 unique and beautiful kaleidoscopic designs, color in magical mushrooms and mandalas and make your trip a memorable one.
Product Features:
- 8.5*11 sized pages
- Single-sided printing on white paper
- 35 unique illustrations
- High quality 60lb paper
If you like coloring in Mandalas, check out these two as well:



We saved the absolute best for the last. Get your hands on the Stoner Activity Book that not only has coloring pages, but also crosswords, puzzles, trippy mazes and more for a variety of activities to do while high!
If you like this type of product, also check out this stoner coloring and activity book:

So there you have it! The 30 best stoner coloring books on Amazon! If you enjoyed this list, check out our article on the 30 Best Stoner Gifts on Amazon! Leave a comment with what you would like to see next!
Source: https://www.thecannaschool.ca/best-stoner-coloring-books/
Heartland
Antioxidant Function of Phytocannabinoids: Molecular Basis of Their Stability and Cytoprotective Properties under UV-irradiation
In this contribution, a comprehensive study of the redox transformation, electronic structure, stability and photoprotective properties of phytocannabinoids is presented. The non-psychotropic cannabidiol (CBD), cannabigerol (CBG), cannabinol (CBN), cannabichromene (CBC), and psychotropic tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) isomers and iso-THC were included in the study. The results show that under aqueous ambient conditions at pH 7.4, non-psychotropic cannabinoids are slight or moderate electron-donors…

. 2021 Jan 13;S0891-5849(21)00025-3.
doi: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2021.01.012. Online ahead of print.
Affiliations
Item in Clipboard
Free Radic Biol Med. .
Abstract
In this contribution, a comprehensive study of the redox transformation, electronic structure, stability and photoprotective properties of phytocannabinoids is presented. The non-psychotropic cannabidiol (CBD), cannabigerol (CBG), cannabinol (CBN), cannabichromene (CBC), and psychotropic tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) isomers and iso-THC were included in the study. The results show that under aqueous ambient conditions at pH 7.4, non-psychotropic cannabinoids are slight or moderate electron-donors and they are relatively stable, in the following order: CBD>CBG≥CBN>CBC. In contrast, psychotropic Δ9-THC degrades approximately one order of magnitude faster than CBD. The degradation (oxidation) is associated with the transformation of OH groups and changes in the double-bond system of the investigated molecules. The satisfactory stability of cannabinoids is associated with the fact that their OH groups are fully protonated at pH 7.4 (pKa is ≥ 9). The instability of CBN and CBC was accelerated after exposure to UVA radiation, with CBD (or CBG) being stable for up to 24 h. To support their topical applications, an in vitro dermatological comparative study of cytotoxic, phototoxic and UVA or UVB photoprotective effects using normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDF) and keratinocytes (HaCaT) was done. NHDF are approx. twice as sensitive to the cannabinoids’ toxicity as HaCaT. Specifically, toxicity IC50 values for CBD after 24 h of incubation are 7.1 and 12.8 μM for NHDF and HaCaT, respectively. None of the studied cannabinoids were phototoxic. Extensive testing has shown that CBD is the most effective protectant against UVA radiation of the studied cannabinoids. For UVB radiation, CBN was the most effective. The results acquired could be used for further redox biology studies on phytocannabinoids and evaluations of their mechanism of action at the molecular level. Furthermore, the UVA and UVB photoprotectivity of phytocannabinoids could also be utilized in the development of new cannabinoid-based topical preparations.
Keywords: (photo)stability; UVA/UVB photoprotection; dermal fibroblasts; electronic structure; keratinocytes; oxidation; phytocannabinoids.
Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Conflict of interest statement
Declaration of Competing Interest J.S. has financial interest in CB21 Pharma Ltd., CBDepot Ltd. and PharmaCan Ltd. J.V. is a president of the scientific board of CB21 Pharma Ltd. All other authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest with the contents of this article.
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Disposition of Phytocannabinoids, Their Acidic Precursors and Their Metabolites in Biological Matrices of Healthy Individuals Treated with Vaporized Medical Cannabis
Inhalation by vaporization is a useful application mode for medical cannabis. In this study, we present the disposition of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), their acidic precursors, and their metabolites in serum, oral fluid, and urine together with the acute pharmacological effects in 14 healthy individuals treated with vaporized medical cannabis. THC and CBD peaked firstly in serum and then in oral fluid, with higher concentrations in the first biological matrices and…

Inhalation by vaporization is a useful application mode for medical cannabis. In this study, we present the disposition of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), their acidic precursors, and their metabolites in serum, oral fluid, and urine together with the acute pharmacological effects in 14 healthy individuals treated with vaporized medical cannabis. THC and CBD peaked firstly in serum and then in oral fluid, with higher concentrations in the first biological matrices and consequent higher area under the curve AUCs. Acidic precursors Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid A (THCA) and cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) showed a similar time course profile but lower concentrations due to the fact that vaporization partly decarboxylated these compounds. All THC and CBD metabolites showed a later onset with respect to the parent compounds in the absorption phase and a slower decrease to baseline. In agreement with serum kinetics, THC-COOH-GLUC and 7-COOH-CBD were the significantly most excreted THC and CBD metabolites. The administration of vaporized medical cannabis induced prototypical effects associated with the administration of cannabis or THC in humans, with a kinetic trend overlapping that of parent compounds and metabolites in serum. The pharmacokinetics of cannabinoids, their precursors, and their metabolites in biological fluids of individuals treated with vaporized medical cannabis preparations showed a high interindividual variability as in the case of oral medical cannabis decoction and oil. Inhaled medical cannabis was absorbed into the organism earlier than decoction and oil. Cannabinoids reached higher systemic concentrations, also due to the fact that the acid precursors decarboxylated to parent cannabinoids at high temperatures, and consequently, the physiological and subjective effects occurred earlier and resulted with higher intensity. No serious adverse effects were observed.
Keywords: cannabidiol; cannabidiol metabolism; cannabis; medical cannabis.
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