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Jihee Ahn
Final week, a coalition of main meals and beverage corporations (self-identified as “shopper packaged items corporations”) requested Congress to do extra in regards to the rising variety of copycat THC edible merchandise and counterfeit logos piggybacking off of their well-known gadgets. The letter was signed by the Shopper Manufacturers Affiliation and fourteen different associations and firms, together with the likes of Common Mills, PepsiCo., Publish Shopper Manufacturers, and Kellogg Firm.
“Youngsters are more and more threatened by the unscrupulous use of well-known model logos, characters, logos and commerce gown on THC-laced edible merchandise. Whereas hashish (and incidental quantities of THC) could also be authorized in some states, the usage of these well-known marks, clearly with out approval of the model homeowners, on meals merchandise has created critical well being and security dangers for customers, significantly kids, who can’t inform the distinction between these manufacturers’ true merchandise and copycat THC merchandise that leverage the model’s fame for revenue. Whereas legislation enforcement focuses on addressing unlawful gross sales, this unscrupulous observe has identified a niche in current legislation – the widespread on-line sale of packaging that leverages these well-known manufacturers.”
The letter cites three distinguished examples (Trix Edibles, Cheetos Edibles, and Stoneo) with screenshots of stories articles under them comparable to “Marijuana edibles disguised as standard sweet, snacks popping up in Florida faculties” and “Toddler hospitalized after consuming marijuana-laced snack.” Notably, the examples of Trix Edibles and Cheetos Edibles don’t even listing a producer and are largely indistinguishable from the true packaging of these gadgets, all of which is a part of the issue.
The group is proposing an modification to the SAFE SHOP Act, a legislation that imparts legal responsibility for promoting, sale or distribution of products beneath counterfeit logos, when the products implicate well being or security. Below the proposed modification, legal responsibility would additionally connect the place a “well-known” mark is used equally. The definition of a “well-known mark” already exists beneath federal statute, referring to manufacturers which can be “widely known by the overall consuming public of the USA as a designation of supply of the products or companies of the mark’s proprietor.”
The group argues that the only real inclusion of legal responsibility for “counterfeit marks” doesn’t attain these unhealthy actors, which is why they proceed to proliferate out there right this moment. They log off the letter by urging help as a result of deterring the sale of those copycat THC gadgets clearly implicate the well being and security of youngsters:
“Sadly, [the current] language doesn’t prohibit sale of the above packaging and merchandise because of the technical definition of counterfeit marks. This must be amended to incorporate ‘well-known’ marks, a time period already outlined in U.S. code, to increase this safety and deter the sale of those copycat THC gadgets which clearly ‘implicate well being and security’ of youngsters. This variation is crucial as a result of it closes a loophole within the current language to handle a crucial well being and security situation. We urge your help.”
Stopping underage marijuana consumption just isn’t a brand new objective by any means – there may be broad consensus that precautions must be applied to make sure kids don’t mistakenly devour hashish. And in the end, this can be a “no no” beneath related copyright legal guidelines anyway. For extra articles we’ve written on that earlier than, try:
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