United Cannabis Corporation v. Pure Hemp Collective, Inc., Case No. 1:18-cv-01922 (D. Colo.)
CANNANNEW REPORT

In 2018 United Cannabis Corporation (“UCANN”) filed the first cannabis patent infringement lawsuit against Pure Hemp Collective, Incorporated (“Pure Hemp”) in the United States District Court of Colorado.[1] In the lawsuit, UCANN asserted that Pure Hemp had infringed U.S. Patent 9,730,911 (‘911) entitled “Cannabis Extracts and Methods of Preparing and Using Same.”[2] The claims of the ‘911 patent cover various cannabinol formulations using ingredients commonly utilized in the cannabis industry that include tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), and several various terpenes.[3] In the lawsuit, UCANN claimed that Pure Hemp’s CBD product infringed on claims 10, 12, 14, 20-22, 25, 27, 28, 31, and 33 of the ‘911 patent.[4] This lawsuit is significant, because it is one of the first cannabis patent infringement lawsuits to be filed in the United States. This case had the potential to rock the cannabis industry, because of the large number of companies creating products that contain many of the ingredients specified in the ‘911 patent. The ‘911 patent also contained broad claim scope that made it a patent ripe for licensing opportunities from others operating in this space. The cannabis industry has been steadily growing and expanding since 2012, when recreational legalization in the United States began with Colorado and Washington becoming the first two states to legalize recreational use.[5] It is projected that cannabis sales will grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 21% to reach more than $41 billion by 2025, up from $13.2 billion in 2019.[6] In response to UCANN’s claims, Pure Hemp counterclaimed that UCANN’s formulations described in the ‘911 patent were unpatentable, because they were commonly known in the industry.[7] However, during the middle of the lawsuit, UCANN filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The bankruptcy filing automatically stayed the pending patent lawsuit, effectively pausing the progression of the suit. In the bankruptcy filing, UCANN…

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Source : United Cannabis Corporation v. Pure Hemp Collective, Inc., Case No. 1:18-cv-01922 (D. Colo.)

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