Canadian Lawyer

w w w . c a n a d i a n l a w y e r m a g . c o m J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 9 57 T he growth and use of cannabis in Canada isn't new; it's been legal for regulated medical use since 2001 and has been used recreation- ally for much longer, albeit illegally. But with the federal Cannabis Act coming into effect on Oct. 17, which legalized recreational use, activity in the cannabis sector has been soaring. Global consumer spending on cannabis is expected to reach $32 billion by 2022, according to two U.S. market research firms, while another firm estimates the global legal cannabis market value will reach as high as US$146 billion by 2025. Not surprisingly, Canadian cannabis growers and retailers are expanding their businesses, in part through mergers and acquisitions, while more players are entering the market. All are turning to intellectual property lawyers to help protect their patents, trademarks and plant breeder's rights. Phillip Shaer, chief legal officer of Smiths Falls, Ont.-based Canopy Growth Corporation — the world's second-largest cannabis company by market value — calls the IP activity at his own company "rather prolific" in the past year and a half. Including Canopy's foreign counterparts (the company has operations in Germany, South Africa, Denmark and Jamaica), "we've filed over 80 [applications for] patents," he says. "And in terms of trade- marks, I can't even guess at the number; but it's massive." New players are also entering the sphere. "We're seeing a lot more Canadians getting into the game and starting to file an application" for a patent, says Micheline Gravelle, managing part- ner of intellectual property firm Bereskin & Parr LLP in Toronto. "People have been filing patents for cannabis products for a long time," largely for medical use, she says, "but there's been a huge uptake in the past year." And as patent applications aren't made pub- lic for 18 months until after filing, the types of applications that have been made recently — and the volume — are still unknown. "We haven't seen a lot of litigation yet," says Gravelle. "It's still a pretty new industry." However, she says, she knows from the num- ber of people who have contacted her firm in the past year that interest in patent applica- tions has "really increased. But we won't have actual numbers until 18 months out, when [applications] start to get published." With a new cannabis market in Canada, patent and trademark issues abound By Elizabeth Raymer PROTECTING CANNABIS IP I N T E L L E C T U A L P R O P E R T Y L E G A L R E P O R T HUAN TRAN

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