Fred is a former diplomat who joined Harris Bricken after more than a decade of international legal experience, primarily in China, Vietnam, and Thailand. His wide range of experience includes starting and operating his own business in Asia, working as an in-house counsel for a Hong Kong-based multinational, as well as many years as a State Department official, providing a client-centric perspective to his legal work. Fred co-hosts Harris Bricken’s weekly Global Law and Business podcast, which covers legal and economic developments in locales around the world to decipher global trends in law and business with the help from international guests.
Puerto Rico Representative Héctor Ferrer Santiago plans to introduce a bill this month to decriminalize adult-use cannabis. In addition, he raised the prospect of a separate bill that would “regulate where [cannabis] can be consumed and under which circumstances, as with [tobacco].” Medical cannabis is already legal on the island. This would not be the
Back in May, we urged cannabis businesses to be mindful of the U.S. prohibition on the importation of goods produced by forced labor. Our concern stemmed from the growing interest on the part of our cannabis clients in establishing operations in countries where they can take advantage both of suitable climate conditions and low labor
Costa Rican legislators are set to reinitiate debate over a bill (Expediente N.° 21.388) to legalize hemp and medical cannabis. The bill was cleared by the Legislative Assembly’s Environment Commission last November, but its presentation to the assembly’s plenum has been delayed. The bill’s author is independent legislator Zoila Rosa Volio, an agronomist and lawyer,
As regular readers of this blog will know, cannabis businesses face unique challenges when it comes to protecting their brand, particularly in the context of federal trademark registration. The federal government’s ongoing prohibitions on cannabis with THC levels exceeding 0.3%, as well as on a wide range of CBD products, means that marks identifying those
Germany will hold parliamentary elections on September 26 of this year. While the ruling Union is expected to win the largest number of seats in the Bundestag, the majority of polls show the Greens (officially Alliance 90/The Greens) taking the second-highest number of seats. In fact, as recently as May, some polls had die Grünen
Last month we discussed the recent lawsuits brought by the Wrigley Company against five cannabis businesses it accuses of infringing its trademarks. Cointreau is now following Wrigley’s lead, suing the maker of Quatreau CBD-infused sparkling water. As we pointed out in our analysis of the Wrigley lawsuits, there is a fine line between legitimate trademark
In what has undoubtedly been the biggest cannabis news to come out of Latin America in a while, Mexico’s Supreme Court declared the prohibition on adult-use cannabis to be unconstitutional. This means you can now drive the 7,498 miles between Sydney, Nova Scotia and Ciudad Hidalgo, Chiapas passing solely through jurisdictions where cannabis is legal
This past May 15 and 16, Chile elected a constitutional convention, tasked with drafting a new basic law for the South American country. Cannabis observers should take note, as the resulting document could have positive implications for cannabis. Chileans voted in favor of a constitutional overhaul following the protests that roiled the country in 2019
Back in April, we discussed Florida law enforcement’s concerns over THC edibles whose packaging infringed on the trademarks of famous candy brands. These fakes have the potential to confuse consumers, as well as help minors conceal their use of THC products. We revisited the topic earlier this month, when we argued that the USPTO’s refusal
On May 13, the health committee of Spain’s Congress of Deputies approved a proposal to create a subcommittee that will consider other countries’ experiences with medical cannabis. The subcommittee’s findings could pave the way for medical cannabis legalization in Spain. According to a recent poll, approximately 90% of Spaniards would favor such a move. Spain
