9:30am-10:00am Introductions

10:00am-11:15am In-House Counsel Round-Up: In-house counsel discuss intellectual property issues including how to develop, grow, and manage an IP portfolio and issues surrounding litigation and other disputes. Counsel will also address what it’s like managing budgets, being responsible for brand growth and protection at the same time.

11:20am-12:20pm It All Starts With the Plant: Experts in plant science provide key facts and insights into the remarkable plant on which the cannabis industry and cannabis law are based. Learn enough about cannabis biology, chemistry, and cultivation to level-up your understanding of the plant your clients work with.

1:30pm-2:45pm International Treaties: Budding Opportunities with Cannabis Intellectual Property. Review relevant treaties with a focus on the UN single convention and its impact on cannabis, including the Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, the Marrakesh Agreement, The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, & the Lisbon Treaty for the Protection of Appellations of Origin.

3:00pm-4:15pm Expand Your Toolbox: Creative Approaches to IP Licensing, Protection, and Exclusivity. Building and leveraging non-traditional barriers to entry when traditional IP doesn't work. Local registrations. Crafting enforceable contract-based protections. Leveraging criminal law to protect your IP.Drafting effective licensing agreements for your cannabis IP. Licensing patents, trademarks, trade secrets and know-how all in one license. Avoiding franchise. Risk management, indemnification, and how to handle exposure in IP contracts.

4:20pm-7:00pm Happy Hour!

9:30am-10:45am Global Protection of Cannabis Brands - Is it Possible? Hear global perspectives on strategies and challenges facing cannabis companies in protecting cannabis brands that recognize the varying regulatory laws and requirements in jurisdictions around the globe. Discuss how courts address consumer confusion between trademarks for cannabis and non-cannabis products and services.

10:55am-12:10pm Cannabis Patents and Plant Variety Rights – Things to Know and Challenges Unique to the Cannabis Industry. Discuss industry-unique challenges for cannabis patents, beginning with an overview of patentable subject matter in the cannabis industry and the availability of patent protection for cannabis-related inventions. The session will provide an overview of plant protections, including plant patents and plant variety protection.

1:30pm-2:30pm Ethics: Balancing Activism and Zealous Advocacy with the Boundaries of the Profession and Evolving Law. Consider the unlicensed practice of law focusing on cross-border expansion, taking contradictory legal positions in different matters for different clients, the duty of candor to administrative bodies, and making arguments that are in the best interest of the client, but against the interest of the industry.

2:45pm-4:00pm IP Litigation and Administrative Proceedings: A Global Overview of Managing Cannabis Conflicts. Dispute resolution in a global context needs to consider many factors, such as the remedies and awards that can be granted and the availability of administrative proceedings, such as oppositions, cancellations, impeachments, and protests. Hear strategies and lessons learned firsthand.