Cannabis Trademarks +
Intellectual Property

Protect your brand, your genetics, and your trade secrets.

Ringgenberg Law Firm provides intellectual property protection in the form of counseling on trademark, trade secret and other intellectual property matters. The firm has helped clients obtain numerous California state trademarks for cannabis goods and services, as well as federal trademarks on hemp-related products and services, and cannabis-ancillary products and services. We advise our clients on trademark protection and are well versed in the unique challenges facing brands in the cannabis and hemp industries. We also assist our clients with intellectual property protection in their business transactions, employment matters and trademark disputes.

Federal Trademark Registration

One of the best ways to protect your brand IP is by registering your trademark or service mark in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). To be registered in the USPTO, a mark’s use in commerce must be lawful. Because cannabis is still a controlled substance under federal law, cannabis goods and services cannot be registered regardless of whether those goods or services are lawful under state law. However, this does not mean that federal registration should not be used or considered as a way to protect cannabis brands and IP. By obtaining federal trademark registration on ancillary goods and services that are lawful under federal law, cannabis brands can still take advantage of the federal trademark protection.


The 2018 Farm Bill removed hemp, including hemp-derived CBD, from the Federal Controlled Substances Act. Responding to this change, the USPTO issued Examination Guide 1-19,  which provides a path for trademark registrations involving hemp-derived goods such as CBD that contain no more than 0.3% THC and are otherwise compliant with federal law including, in particular, the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act. As state’s continue to legalize cannabis and federal law continues to evolve, our firm looks for the best and most up-to-date ways to protect brand IP in the cannabis industry, including the best available trademark protection at the federal level for our clients.

Guidance from the California Secretary of State's Office

“Trademark” means any word, name, symbol, or device, or any combination therefore, used in commerce by a person to identify and distinguish the goods of that person from those manufactured or sold by others.

“Service Mark” means any word, name, symbol, or device, or any combination thereof, used in commerce by a person to identify and distinguish the services of that person from the services of others.

(In the California SOS guide, the term “Trademark” refers to both trademarks and service marks.)

The fastest way to register or update your trademark is online at tmbizfile.sos.ca.gov. You may also complete an Application for Registration (Form TM-100) and submit the form in person at the Secretary of State’s office or by mail.

Yes, to register a Trademark in California, it must be lawfully in use in commerce. For cannabis businesses, this means that the cannabis-related goods or services associated with the Mark are authorized under California law. Applicants should ensure that any local and state licenses required to conduct the cannabis activities in California have been obtained prior to seeking registration of a Trademark.

Applicants should ensure that they are in compliance with labeling and packaging requirements for cannabis products (e.g. product labels include the Universal Symbol). Trademarks associated with prohibited cannabis products cannot be registered (e.g. cannabis products that are attractive to children). Detailed information on licensing, labeling and packaging requirements can be found online at cannabis.ca.gov.

To register your Trademark, you must choose one or more classification codes from the list adopted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), which can be found online by visiting uspto.gov.

These classification codes do not include specific categories for cannabis goods or services; therefore, applicants should choose the code(s) which best categorize the good(s) or service(s) associated with their Trademark as if these goods or services did not involve cannabis.

Examples of common classification codes used for cannabis-related Trademarks include the following:

  • Classification Code 5: Pharmaceuticals: trademarks for medicinal products containing cannabis extracts
  • Classification Code 31: Natural Agricultural Products: trademarks for live cannabis plants
  • Classification Code 34: Smokers Articles: trademarks for cannabis products intended for smoking
  • Classification Code 35: Advertising and Business: service marks for retail stores selling cannabis products
  • Classification Code 39: Transportation and Storage: service marks for delivery of cannabis products