On August 26, 2019, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced an expansion of a federal program allowing legalized cannabis research, by allowing additional applications from cannabis cultivators. In doing so, the DEA will increase the pool of potential legal sourcing of cannabis for medical and scientific research. Currently, the only cannabis that can be obtained for federally funded medical and scientific cannabis research may be sourced only from the University of Mississippi‘s National Center for Natural Products Research in its pharmacy school conducted in conjunction with a license through the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)’s drug supply program.
The significance is two-fold. First, the UM’s supply of cannabis is extremely limited, given the amount of state legalization efforts, and the increase in cannabis medical research. Increasing the sources of legal cannabis allows for more funding opportunities available for potential government and private researchers into scientific benefits of cannabis. Second, and co-incident with the new sourcing increase, because of the recent Hemp Act which legalized hemp as part of the Farm Bill in 2018, the DEA has acknowledged that certain forms of the cannabis plant – namely, hemp plants and cannabidiol (CBD) containing less than 0.3% or less of Δ-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are not deemed controlled substances under U.S. law, and therefore, do not require registration for use nor will be subject to enforcement.
The consequence for IP – patent and possibly trademark – may be profound as a result of the increased legal availability at the federal level. Methods, treatments of use, therapeutic uses, and compositions for new cannabis compounds may be protected by patent applications before the USPTO. Furthermore, with the DEA’s acceptance of some forms of cannabis, the trademark branch may allow more trademark registrations at the federal level which are used in commerce and directed to these particular cannabis products.
As more developments occur with the legalization of cannabis, especially on its effects on IP law, we will update the blog accordingly.