Hereâs a good reason to forgo the parody logos so popular in the cannabis industry; last week UPS became the latest brand to sue its marijuana copycats. The company has filed a lawsuit against United Pot Smokers, UPS420, and THCPlant, a group of medical marijuana delivery businesses, for misleading advertisements and using brand identifiers that encroach on the United Parcel Serviceâs trademarks.
This is far from the first time a cannabis company has been taken to task for a copyright infringement. Last year, Hersheyâs Chocolate renewed its quest to keep its brand away from candy-crazy pot brands. In 2017, Detroitâs Buds R Us dispensary was ordered away from its name by Toys R Us, and Gorilla Glue adhesives reached a non-monetary settlement with Gorilla Glue Strains. That same year, Tapatio Hot Sauce sued a company marketing an infused salsa under the name âTrapatioâ.
And now the multinational delivery company is taking issue with the fact that the United Pot Smokers brand was promoted with a logo that echoed the original UPSâ well-known shield, not to mention the shipping serviceâs distinctive acronym.
The complaint, filed on February 13 in Los Angelesâ Central District federal court, also cites the fact that websites www.upsgreen.com and www.ups420.com were operated by the defendants to coordinate mail orders of cannabis product. On them, the companies used language that could possibly have led to confusion between them and the venerable brand.
World Intellectual Property Review reports that among the offending nomenclature on the United Pot Smokers sites were lines saying that it was a ânationwide logistics expeditorâ and âoperational courierâ.
Requests for comment by Bloomberg were not immediately responded to by the suitâs defendants. The lawsuitâs demands include compensation for damages and that control over the websites in question be passed to the original UPS company.
The two URLs cited in the lawsuit now forward users onto a pair of defunct-looking websitesâone for an out-of-stock marijuana storage system and the other for marijuana clones and grow equipment. The site www.ups420.com now links to a defunct-seeming page for California marijuana clones, and once offered âbusiness class transportationâ for cannabis products within the state.
Worries about the brandsâ aesthetic similarities were apparently heightened by user reviews about United Pot Smokers âripping offâ medical cannabis patients that were included in the lawsuitâs filings.
UPS stated that United Pot Smokers âhave acquired a reputation for unlawful and unprofessional conduct, including offering sham services.â In addition, it claims the cannabis company disregarded more than one cease-and-desist warning from the UPS legal team and âintended to capitalize off UPSâs extensive goodwill and reputation.â
Marijuana Business Daily reports that on Feb 15, a judge denied UPSâ request for a temporary restraining order, preferring to wait to hear the other sideâs testimony at a March 7 hearing. The defendants must respond to the UPS allegations by February 28.
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