I went ahead and looked up these patents. This one looks particularly bad:<p><a href="https://www.google.com/patents/US9370164" rel="nofollow">https://www.google.com/patents/US9370164</a><p>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?<p>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.<p>EDIT: I found this website: <a href="http://analytical360.com/" rel="nofollow">http://analytical360.com/</a><p>This lists a number of strains that could potentially read on this, such as Gorilla Glue: <a href="http://analytical360.com/m/archived/261533" rel="nofollow">http://analytical360.com/m/archived/261533</a>
Headline of this evening's South China Morning Post: How China Quietly Grew Into a Cannabis Superpower<p><a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2108347/green-gold-how-china-quietly-grew-cannabis-superpower" rel="nofollow">http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2108347/green...</a><p>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.<p>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.<p>A powerful drug derived from marijuana is on the cusp of federal approval<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/marijuana-epilepsy-drug-2017-5" rel="nofollow">http://www.businessinsider.com/marijuana-epilepsy-drug-2017-...</a>
Its amazing that we at all allow the possibility of a field brimming with promise, that resulted in so much oppression to poor minorites, to be suddenly, just as the moment turned towards freedom, captured and terms dictated by a small group of rich people when others have bled, been deprived of their freedom, and were there first.
This is absurd. If these patents are ever enforced, I hope the cannabis industry doesn't stop until they've destroyed this company, the people who run it, and anyone who associates with them. In a court of law or otherwise.
I once had an economics professor who insisted the bigger hurdle to marijuana legalization was monetizing it. It's a quite unique cash crop in that it only takes a small area and small amout of labor to produce large supply. His words, paraphrased: "You can grow enough marijuana in your basement to meet the demands of your whole neighborhood! And it's a difficult thing to patent to use IP ownership as a revenue model..."<p>Looks like BioTech Institute LLC (and I'm sure lots of others) are trying to address the second point.
What is the current state of Case Law with regard to DNA in the US? And how, if at all, would this carry over to the genetics of plants?<p>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?
What annoys me is I was trying to tell people this was were this was headed. I suspect Monsanto is the big player or affiliated with whoever it is.<p>The right to grow needs yo be solidified.
The sad thing about growing up is that most of the magic unicorns die. Yes, it is a nice story, but if it is not the 1 in a million exceptional story it's probably one of the five big players behind this company. And if they really are close to getting a legal lock on the market the other big players are either making deals with them already behind closed doors or they are partnering up and we'll soon see legal battles about these patents.<p>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.