Legal Insights

What AB-228 Means for Industrial Hemp Product Manufacturers & Re
Rogoway Law Group

If AB-228 – Food, Beverages, and Cosmetics: Industrial Hemp Products – Passes, Then What?

AB-228 – Food, Beverage, and Cosmetic Adulterants: Industrial Hemp Products – has generated substantial buzz ever since Assembly Member Cecilia M. Aguiar-Curry introduced it back in January 2019. And rightfully so; if AB-228 passes, it will likely open the door to increased shelf space in major grocery stores and retail outlets for food, beverage and cosmetic products containing industrial hemp.   Specifically,

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Application Window for Phase 3 Cannabis Retail Round 1 Licensing opens on September 3, 2019 at 10:00am.
Rogoway Law Group

Los Angeles’ Phase 3 Round 1 Cannabis Retail Licensing Application Window Opens Soon

The application window for Los Angeles’ Phase 3 Round I cannabis retail license applicants will open on September 3, 2019 at 10:00am. Although the application window will technically be open until September 17, 2019, applications will be accepted on a first-come-first-served basis and there are only 100 permits available, so a rush to submit applications as soon as the window

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Best of Sonoma County 2019
Rogoway Law Group

Hilary St. Jean, Our Senior Corporate Transactional Attorney, Recognized as Best Attorney in Sonoma County.

Today, the Press Democrat announced Hilary St. Jean–Senior Corporate Transactional Attorney at Rogoway Law Group–as the winner of the Best Attorney, as part of the publication’s Best of Sonoma County awards. The Sonoma County Real Life 2019: Best of Sonoma County awards give the readers of the Press Democrat–the daily with the largest circulation in the California North Bay–a chance

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Commercial Cannabis Permitting and Regulation: The City of Sonoma
Rogoway Law Group

The Recent History of Permitting and Regulating Commercial Cannabis Activities in the City of Sonoma

In Spring 2018, the City of Sonoma began discussing commercial cannabis regulation with its citizens at two Town Hall Meetings. In June 2018, after a Special City Council meeting on May 30, staff began to develop permanent cannabis regulations for the City of Sonoma. At the time, the proposed permanent cannabis regulations included:  Allowing the outdoor personal cultivation of three

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Important considerations for composition of the Board of Directors for cannabis companies.
Hilary St. Jean

Crucial Considerations For The Composition of The Board of Directors

In a corporate context the Board of Directors (the “Board”) is the most important governing body for the corporation. The Board holds ultimate responsibility for the business and affairs of a company. Other than items also requiring the vote of the shareholders, the business and affairs of the corporation are managed, and all corporate powers are exercised by or under

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Preferred stock financings as one form of equity financing for you cannabis business.
Hilary St. Jean

Securing Funding for Your Cannabis Business Through Preferred Stock Financings

Types of Financings for Cannabis Businesses Financings for cannabis businesses can take different forms. There are debt financings and equity financings. Debt Financings Debt financings often are documented in instruments such as promissory notes (whether simple loans with interest that accrue and mature, or loans convertible into equity on certain events or otherwise mature). Equity Financings Equity financings often are

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U.S. Supreme Court through its decision in Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela confirms that arbitration agreements should be taken seriously.
Rogoway Law Group

Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela Confirms (Yet Again) That Arbitration Agreements Should Be Taken Seriously

Recently the U.S. Supreme Court rendered its decision in Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela, 587 U.S. ____ (2019), reported at 2019 WL 1780275, a case with at least three striking lessons: Lesson #1 Because arbitration agreements are formed by contract through mutual consent, parties negotiating arbitration agreements should pay very careful attention to the specific words used in the contract.

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Federal Trademark Registration for CBD Brands
Josh Zetlin

Federal Trademark Registrations for Hemp-derived CBD Brands Following The 2018 Farm Bill

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) has long refused to register trademarks and service marks for goods and/or services that violated federal law, regardless of the legality of the activities under state law. (See generally Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP) §907.) As many cannabis and hemp brands know, this restriction made securing federal trademark protection a challenging

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Section 26065 of MAUCRSA (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 26065), which provides simply that employees “engaged in the cultivation of cannabis under this division shall be subject to Wage Order No. 4-2001 of the Industrial Welfare Commission.
Rogoway Law Group

Cannabis Cultivator Beware: A Wage & Hour Trap for the Unwary

Sometimes California’s cannabis laws can be surprising, even to the experts. Our firm came across one example of this recently: Section 26065 of MAUCRSA (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 26065), which provides simply that employees “engaged in the cultivation of cannabis under this division shall be subject to Wage Order No. 4-2001 of the Industrial Welfare Commission.” A Brief

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