What a Looming Patent War Could Mean for the Future of the Marijuana Industry

[n2doc]

By Greg Walters

On August 4, 2015, US officials quietly made history by approving the first-ever patent for a plant containing significant amounts of THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, according to the patent's holders, their lawyers, and outside experts in intellectual property law.

Patent No. 9095554, issued to a group of breeders in California, "relates to specialty cannabis plants, compositions and methods for making and using said cannabis plants and compositions derived thereof," according to the 145-page document, which is filled with charts, graphs, and reams of scientific jargon describing a range of hybrid strains with distinctive ratios of cannabinoids.

"There is a real need for cannabis varieties for potential medical use that produce modulated THC concentrations and varying concentrations of other pharmacologically active substances," the patent says. "There is also a need for healthier cannabis for recreational use with reduced negative side effects from THC. The inventions described herein meet that long-felt need."

But while the patent may inaugurate a new era of acceptance for marijuana in the US, it also opens up a new source of turmoil for the fast-growing industry: disputes over the intellectual property rights to America's most potent and innovative marijuana strains.

"It's going to be a mess," said Tim Blake, a longtime grower and activist who founded California's annual Emerald Cup cannabis competition. Marijuana growers developing new varieties, he added, "are going to have to spend a lot of money on attorneys."

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https://news.vice.com/article/a-patent-for-cannabis-plants-is-already-a-reality-and-more-are-expected-to-follow

[Buzz Clik]

1. Hybrids, cross-breeding, GMOs. Commercialized Weed Wars.

[rjsquirrel]

6. Every weed strain you can buy illegally or legally

Is a hybrid. And thus a GMO.

A cow is a GMO. So is a supermarket tomato.

[pscot]

2. There must be a thousand strains already

in general use. They're trying to put the djin back in the bottle but it's not going to fit.

[RKP5637]

3. Big Pharma can't wait to get in and charge exorbitant prices and make it a high tier medication.

Recreational pot should be very easy to have, but as usual it's all about $$$$$'s and keeping it from we the people. It should be legal across the entire US.

[rjsquirrel]

5. Umm no

Big Pharma, as you call it, has barely been a player in the cannabis revolution.

[Go Vols]

4. I don't like this.

[waddirum]

7. I don't think there is reason to worry

There are too many fine genetics available to the common man, that no one patent holder can monopolize a plant with a given cannabinoid profile.