Kool Cigarettes just won a copyright infringement lawsuit against a legal cannabis brand

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The third largest tobacco company in the United States has just won a trademark infringement lawsuit against a small California cannabis company.

At the beginning of the year, the tobacco company ITG Brands filed a lawsuit against Capna Intellectual from Los Angeles for ripping off the logo of its cigarette brand Kool. Capna, which manufactures a variety of legal adult cannabis products under the Bloom Brands name, has been accused of deliberately copying the interlocking “OOs” from ITG’s Kool logo for use in its own Bloom logo.

The lawsuit described the Bloom logo as a deliberate and “transparent rip-off of ITG’s Kool brands,” according to Ganjapreneur court documents. The lawsuit further argued that this trademark infringement was “carried out with malicious intent or reckless disregard or willful blindness to ITG’s rights in the Kool marks for the purpose of trading ITG’s reputation and diluting the Kool marks.”

This week a federal judge ruled the case in favor of the ITG. Otis D. Wright, US District Court judge, ordered Capna to immediately cease using the Bloom logo or any other designation with interlocking “OOs” or circles. The cannabis company must now inform all of its retailers of the court’s decision by November 15 and give them the opportunity to exchange products with the old logo for new branded items.

Instead of continuing to contest the case, Capna appears to intend to obey the court order. The company’s website now features a new Bloom logo, with the two “OOs” touching each other rather than being completely intertwined. There is also a banner on the website that says “Bloom is working on a new look! Stay tuned for an important announcement. “

Now that the U.S. cannabis market has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry, established companies are on the lookout for cannabis companies that could infringe their brands. In one of the earliest of these cases, a Nevada cannabis producer was forced to rename its popular “Gorilla Glue” strain to “GG” after being sued by the company that makes the actual Gorilla Glue. The Girl Scouts of America even had to defend their brands from pharmacies that sell Girl Scout Cookies.

However, most of these lawsuits have centered on chocolate and other edibles with logos that mimick confectionery manufacturers’ brands. Hershey’s has sued dozens of companies for selling edibles like “Mr. Grateful ”and“ Reefer’s Peanut Butter Cups ”and the Ferrara Candy Company fought pot producers for ripping off their popular Nerds Rope brands. Mars Wrigley has also just filed three lawsuits against multiple companies in the US and Canada for alleged infringement of its Skittles, Starburst and Life Savers candy.