Restaurant chain Hard Rock Cafe and spirits maker Cointreau Corp. are the latest bringing trademark complaints against CBD manufacturers.
In a pair of lawsuits filed this month in New York and Florida, the companies allege that CBD makers are trying to confuse customers into thinking they are branded CBD products coming from the older companies.
Hard Rock Cafe has sued Hard Rock Hemp, a South Carolina company that makes CBD topicals, edibles and pre-rolls called “one-hit wonders.” Its website links to a record store that touts “One of the Largest Collections of Retail & Private Music Memorabilia on the East Coast.”
Also this month, Cointreau Corp. filed suit against Canopy Growth Corp. for its line of hemp-derived CBD-infused beverages sold under the brand “Quatreau.”
Cointreau, an orange-flavored liqueur, noted in its filing that “CBD-infused nonalcoholic beverages are now being sold in the same retail outlets as alcoholic beverages” and that both CBD drinks and Cointreau are commonly used as mixers with other alcoholic beverages.
Cointreau also told the court that a growing number of alcoholic beverage brands including Molson Coors are selling nonalcoholic CBD beverages, often alongside their alcoholic offerings in liquor stores.
Hard Rock and Cointreau both seek unspecified damages. The hemp companies have not replied to the charges and did not return messages for comment from Hemp Industry Daily.
