Marijuana Business Magazine April 2020

Marijuana Business Magazine | April 2020 104 QuestionoftheMonth | Intellectual Property & Patents What is your intellectual property strategy and are you pursuing any patents? E ach month we survey a group of cannabis executives and ask them an industry question. We welcome your suggestions for topics. Email us at magazine@mjbizdaily.com . Intellectual property is increasingly important in the cannabis industry, and since April 26 is World Intellectual Property Day, we asked executives to summarize their companies’ intellectual property strategies or name something for which they are pursuing patents. By Omar Sacirbey We have commercialized a line of bio-based products for pest management and plant health, including cannabis and hemp. IP is critical to the company, as we are in a very competitive (agrichemical) industry with a diverse range of small and large companies around the globe. We have 396 foreign-issued patents and 53 U.S.-issued patents—105 (patent applications) are foreign pending and 23 are U.S. pending. Our product lines are comprised of naturally occurring microorganisms or plant extracts. All of our product lines are patented. We patent the microorganism (and its complementary DNA) or plant extract and/or its uses for pest management and plant health, the pesticidal compounds produced by the microorganisms or in the plant extract, formulations and synergistic mixtures with other products. We have patented the process for discovering a new bioherbicide. Our Pro Farm subsidiary has patented the process for making its biostimulant/bionutrient products from wood waste. Pam Marrone CEO/Founder, Marrone Bio Innovations, a plant health and pest management company, Davis, California Pure Green Pharmaceuticals has applied for eight patents, was awarded the first that we applied for, and is moving toward approval on the others. We have patentable inventions in the cannabis field about four times per year (that are) designed to enable our core technology: the synergistic application of true water-soluble cannabinoids/terpenes to people and animals to relieve multiple medical conditions in a user-friendly form factor. Our IP strategy builds a “picket fence” around extraction processes, product formulations and manufacturing processes for medical and consumer products worldwide. The first awarded patent is a unique process that decreases microbial contamination in cannabis plants, vastly increases cannabinoid/terpene recovery during extraction and decreases plant drying cycle time. Stephen Goldner CEO/Founder, Pure Green, an infused product company, Inkster, Michigan Intellectual property is a significant consideration in Vertosa’s strategy as an ingredient manufacturer and technology provider in the marijuana and hemp supply chains. We custom design our emulsion formulas to fit the needs of each partner brand’s product, so we’ve developed a unique patent strategy to match the flexibility of our formulas based around the work of founder and Chief Science Officer Dr. Harold Han, who has been developing nano- and micro-emulsions his entire career. Dr. Han figured out how to merge the insoluble—cannabis and water—to create incredibly homogeneous and stable beverages, topicals and more, while combatting challenges such as ingredient and packaging compatibility. While the patents focus on the components of the solutions, we also have implemented a robust trade-secret strategy that is the key to producing our final products. Ben Larson CEO, Vertosa, an infusion technology company, Oakland, California