Jihee Ahn, Author at Harris Bricken

Jihee Ahn

Jihee is an experienced complex commercial litigator in Harris Bricken’s Portland and Los Angeles offices. She represents clients in business, intellectual property, and real estate matters. Having worked extensively in both federal and state courts, Jihee advises her clients from case intake through arbitration and trial.

A Primer On Your Duty to Preserve Evidence – And What Can Happen If You Don’t

A Primer On the Duty to Preserve Evidence – And What Can Happen If You Don’t

Most people know that any party to litigation unquestionably owes an “uncompromising duty to preserve” what they know or reasonably should know may be relevant evidence in their lawsuit. What they don’t know is this is true before any discovery requests are served, and sometimes, even before the complaint is filed. Here’s a primer on

Cannabis Litigation: Fraudulent Transfer Claims and the UVTA

It might feel counterintuitive at first, but I always talk with clients about the end of the lawsuit before giving the option to file one. Why? Because I believe that true client advocacy includes walking through what you’re fighting for – and because in most cases, our clients are fighting for monetary relief, I want

The First Cannabis Patent Infringement Lawsuit Has Officially Concluded

We’ve reported pretty extensively on the progress of United Cannabis Corporation’s (UCANN) patent infringement lawsuit against Pure Hemp Collective, Inc. since it was filed back in July 2018. (See posts here, here, here, here, here, here… and here!) In the initial months, this was a fascinating case to watch because it was the first of its

Breaking News – Facebook v. Duguid: Is this the End of TCPA Litigation?

The Facebook v. Duguid Supreme Court decision is here: “To qualify as an ‘automatic telephone dialing system’ under the TCPA, a device must have the capacity either to store a telephone number using a random or sequential number generator, or to produce a telephone number using a random or sequential number generator.” Let’s back up.

The SAFE Banking Act’s Reintroduction in 2021

This week, the SAFE Banking Act’s long-awaited reintroduction finally happened, and by a bipartisan group of over 100 members of the House and 30 members of the Senate (and counting!). The legislation was first introduced in March 2019, and we’ve followed along ever since. This Act has now been passed by the House THREE times,

Ninth Circuit Finds “The Herbal Chef” Is Generic and Denies Trademark Protection

On Tuesday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals settled an appeal by The Herbal Chef, LLC (“THC”) and held the words “The Herbal Chef” do not qualify for trademark protection. The short memorandum opinion affirmed summary judgment granted by Central District Court Judge, Andre Birotte Jr., in favor of defendant AFG Distribution, Inc. (“AFG”) in

Cannabis Litigation Common Counts: Alternatives to a Breach of Contract Claim

In almost every litigation webinar we’ve done, and in many of our past posts discussing breach of contract (the general breakdown of this claim is here), we’ve stressed the importance of memorializing agreements in writing to save yourself from potential or protracted litigation down the line. Unfortunately though, we still get quite a few prospective

Cannabis Litigation: How Effective Are Motions to Dismiss?

Last month, I wrote this post on the latest development in the trademark infringement lawsuit filed by Veritas Fine Cannabis (“VFC”) against Veritas Farms. Unfortunately for VFC, Magistrate Judge Michael E. Hegarty had issued a recommended order that the Court grant Veritas Farms’ motion to dismiss – and to dismiss the claims with prejudice (meaning,

Patent Infringement Indemnification: Do You Have It?

Last week, a major cannabis brand was sued for patent infringement by Geographic Location Innovations (“GLI”) in the District Court of Colorado. The Complaint alleges GLI is the owner of the ‘285 Patent, titled “Device, System and Method for Remotely Entering, Storing and Sharing Addresses for a Positional Information Device,” which among other things, allows

California Cannabis Litigation: Who Should Be Sued?

Our litigation team has experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants in the cannabis industry, and one issue we commonly see is whether an individual is rightfully sued along with his/her business. For example, in a breach of contract action, do you sue the company AND its owners, managers, members? What do you do if you’re