Global Protection of Cannabis Brands - Is it Possible?

Mary Shapiro, JD, MBA Related Seminars and Products

Managing Director

Evoke Law, PC

Mary Shapiro
Evoke Law, PC
mary@evoke.law

Mary Shapiro, Managing Director of Evoke Law, PC, based in San Francisco, California, is an intellectual property attorney specializing in trademark, consumer protection, copyright, and internet law.

For 20 years prior to her legal career, Mary served in a variety of marketing positions in the book industry, including roles in retail, distribution and publishing. Mary started her legal career in 1999 at Townsend and Townsend and Crew LLP. There, Mary supported businesses in a variety of industries: technology, medical device, pharmaceutical, wineries, non-profit foundations, and consumer products.
Her cannabis practice began in earnest in 2009, offering specialized legal services in intellectual property and consumer protection. Mary strives to assist cannabis operators in selecting strong and enforceable brand names, with her day-to-day work encompassing clearing, filing, prosecuting, enforcing, and licensing trademarks in the U.S. and internationally.

In 2016, Mary rebranded the firm to Evoke Law, continuing to specialize in serving the cannabis industry. By registering brands and enforcing intellectual property rights, businesses are positioned to expand their brands nationally and globally. In the consumer protection arena, Evoke Law guides cannabis operators through the complex compliance issues associated with packaging and labeling, recalls, and advertising. The firm encourages clients to carefully view each decision from the vantage point of its overall marketing strategies and business objectives, as well as the company’s risk tolerance level.

Mary has been a leader in bridging intellectual property law, state cannabis regulations, and the cannabis marketplace. In 2015, Mary was a founding Board member of the National Cannabis Bar Association (NCBA), which now has over 700 active members. She currently serves as the Board Secretary, co-chairs the organization’s worldwide expansion (as the International Cannabis Bar Association (INCBA), and is in a leadership role in the Continuing Legal Education program. In 2016-2017, Mary collaborated with industry advocacy groups and fellow legal colleagues, to persuade the California Secretary of State to allow registration of trademarks for cannabis products and services. In early 2018, with the assistance of a technical advisor and expert witness testimony, Evoke Law provided the USPTO with irrefutable scientific evidence that the mature stalks do indeed produce CBD in appreciable quantities without the commingling from other plant parts, including any ‘resinous’ secretions, which debunked the USPTO’s incorrect internal position on this matter, and resulted in the federal registration of a client’s trademark for a hemp-derived product.

Evoke Law provides pro bono assistance to Marijuana Policy Project, Americans for Safe Access, California Cannabis Industry Association, International Cannabis Bar Association, and Cannabis Marketing Association. Mary is also a First 50 supporter of Women Grow, and regularly speaks at industry conferences including MJBiz, NCIA, CCIA, INCBA, Women Grow, and Emerald Cup.
 

Natalie Rizkalla-Kamel Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP

Natalie Rizkalla-Kamel is a Toronto-based Gowling WLG partner specializing in intellectual property litigation, trademark prosecution, strategic global trademark portfolio management, and transactional intellectual property work.

Natalie has a broad range of experience in all aspects of IP litigation at all levels of Court, with a focus on contentious work in the areas of patents, trademarks, and copyright. She has acted for clients from various industries, including: retail, cosmetics, manufacturing, cannabis, financial services, and pharmaceuticals. She is dedicated to understanding her clients' business interests and goals, developing an effective litigation strategy, and advising them toward favourable outcomes in each case.

Natalie is also a registered trademark agent in Canada, and her practice involves advising clients with both small and large portfolios on the acquisition, protection, and enforcement of their trademark rights in Canada and globally.

Given the legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada in 2018, Natalie has also developed a niche practice at Gowling WLG in the cannabis sector. She assists Canadian cannabis clients in developing brand strategies, and has been called on to represent clients in trademark disputes (both in and out of court) with respect to their cannabis brands in Canada. She has also has assisted clients with numerous manufacturing and licensing transactions in the cannabis space. Natalie has actively published and presented about cannabis branding and trademarks, and was recently interviewed by the World Trademark Review about brand strategy and trends for cannabis within the Canadian landscape for an article entitled, "Cannabis retailers have their work cut out for them in terms of trademark and brand strategy" (April 30, 2021).

Natalie is an active member of the IP community, and participates in writing on new developments in intellectual property law. She also serves on the committees of several professional associations, including the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada, the Canadian Bar Association (Intellectual Property Section), and the International Trademark Association. She also sits on the CLE Board, and is vice-chair of the International Action Group of the American Bar Association (Intellectual Property Section).

In 2017, Natalie was named a Lexpert "Rising Star: Leading Lawyer Under 40" for being at the top of the legal profession in Canada, as well as in recognition of her professional achievements and contributions to the community. She is consistently ranked as a World Intellectual Property Review (WIPR) Leader, and was most recently ranked in World Trademark Review 1000 (2022), the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory (2022) for Intellectual Property and Intellectual Property Litigation, Chambers Canada 2023 for Intellectual Property and Best Lawyers in Canada 2023.

Prior to joining Gowling WLG, Natalie received an MSc in Civil Engineering from Queen's University, under a National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) scholarship, and worked as a structural engineer. She is licensed as a Professional Engineer (PEng) in Ontario.

Katie Paterno, JD Related Seminars and Products

Director, Legal

Canopy Growth Corporation

Katie is in-house counsel for Canopy Growth Corporation, a world-leading cannabis company focused on unleashing the power of cannabis to improve lives. In her role, Katie oversees Canopy's global intellectual property portfolio and serves as a strategic advisor to the company on brand development, protection, and enforcement, in addition to advising the business on commercial and compliance related matters.

Katie obtained her Juris Doctor from the University of New Brunswick, and currently resides on the beautiful east coast of Canada in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Thomas Verborgh Related Seminars and Products

Intellectual Property Attorney

GEVERS

Thomas gives legal and strategic advice on the protection of intellectual property with a focus on trademarks. He also assists clients in dispute resolution and drafting IP related contracts. Before joining GEVERS in 2020, Thomas worked as a trainee-examiner through the Pan-European Seal traineeship at the EUIPO.

Thomas is am a member of the Belgian chapter (ABA – BVA) of ALAI is the Association littéraire et artistique internationale who focuses on copyright. He won the ALAI European Authors’ right Award of 2020.

Arturo Revilla Related Seminars and Products

Associate

Chevez, Ruiz, Zamarripa y Cia., S.C.

Bilingual and fully trained attorney with an international academic and cultural background. I hold a law degree from law faculty of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and a LLM from the Georg-August Universität Göttingen (Germany). Completed the program International and Comparative Business Law at Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, Germany. I have broad and solid experience dealing with intellectual property matters (filing & prosecution, contentious, consultancy, transactional, etc.). Likewise, I possess thorough knowledge on IT, privacy, E-commerce and consumer protection affairs.

I approach the cases with a result-oriented, analytical, and practical perspective to comply with any required deadlines and exceed the client’s expectations.