US jurisdiction report: The race for cannabis patents

In what might be termed the cannabis “industry” there is a race to obtain and create proprietary patents and other IP rights around cannabis.

In this article, the terms cannabis and marijuana are synonymous and are used interchangeably.

It is not possible to patent the marijuana plant, per se, since it is a naturally occurring part of nature, so those engaged in what will herein be referred to as the cannabis industry have for years tried to figure out a way to obtain patent protection covering items associated with the plant.