https://www.google.com/patents/US9370164
This basically grants them a patent on every single cannabis plant which has >3% THC and CBD, and which Myrcene is not the dominant terpine. Can anyone who knows their bud say which strains this could be applied to?
Also, the specification on this is HUGE. This represents a large investment; they're going to filing continuations on this until the cows come home.
EDIT: I found this website: http://analytical360.com/
This lists a number of strains that could potentially read on this, such as Gorilla Glue: http://analytical360.com/m/archived/261533
Cannabis has been cultivated and sold illegally in the US for almost a century. It seems unlikely that the USPTO would be able to enforce compliance when law enforcement has not.
And that is going to make it much easier to regulate. Patents have the potential to pick the winners in this industry if they are handed out irresponsibily.
The free market was so called because it is free from control of its participants :)
Edit: To be clear, I'm arguing against capitalism as a manifestation of freedom, I'm sure we both agree that patents and copyrights should not exist in a free society, though.
You may think the above two reasons apply to both patents and copyrights but I will argue they don't once someone asks me for it :)
Oh, are we just being hyperbolic? A capitalist would say a socialist is wrong and this is cronyism. A socialist would say capitalism is wrong and this is cronyism.
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2108347/green...
Article states that more than half of the 600 patents related to cannabis are held in China. Unclear if they relate to industrial hemp or medicinal uses.
The race to get coveted FDA approval is even more heated. If GW Pharmaceuticals' stock price is any indication, it may be first out the gate with its CBD-based epilepsy treatment, Epidiolex.
A powerful drug derived from marijuana is on the cusp of federal approval
http://www.businessinsider.com/marijuana-epilepsy-drug-2017-...
Looks like BioTech Institute LLC (and I'm sure lots of others) are trying to address the second point.
That has not stopped the monetization of alcohol...
People who want to make billions from this will simply lobby until there are extremely strict laws in place to protect their profits, and then also lobby to make sure there are wars and extremely strict punishments for violators of those laws.
How much of a natural product is it safe to say is patentable? And how much of the patent has to depend on things like "processes of manufacturing", etc?
The right to grow needs yo be solidified.
For the end result it also doesn't really matter how the fight will go. Either 1, 2 or 3 of them will find a balance that all of them can live with and the rest of the market will just die, starting from the smaller participants, either by going bankrupt or by merging with bigger players. Soon everything will become legal and you can buy standardized packages in the super market with a few illegal players continuing to gamble against the law but never really making big bucks out of it.
I love good journalism like this. Well written, informative, and interesting.
Thanks for sharing!