Pubdate: Sat, 19 Apr 2014
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2014 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Steve Raabe

SUIT ALLEGES POT MINT PACKAGED LIKE CANDY

Longmont-Based Maker of the Infused Product Sues Dixie Elixirs for 
Trademark Infringement.

A Longmont-based maker of marijuana-infused mints said Friday it is 
filing a trademark infringement lawsuit against Denver edibles 
company Dixie Elixirs.

Bridge Marketing alleges in the suit that Dixie Elixirs recklessly 
packaged "MED-a-Mints" in a manner that makes them look like candy.

The lawsuit claims that Dixie Elixirs failed to use Bridge's 
trademarked design for packages of the mint-like lozenges that 
contain THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

"Edible marijuana is not candy," said Gary Gabrel, MED-a-Mints' 
inventor and managing partner of Bridge Marketing. "And yet Dixie 
Elixirs has acted with reckless disregard to business ethics and 
consumer safety by removing our clear and conservative labeling, and 
by refusing to offer the product in childproof packaging that we have 
repeatedly recommended."

The suit also alleges that Dixie Elixirs has failed to make monthly 
royalty payments in a timely manner.

Dixie Elixirs is a major supplier of cannabis-infused edible products 
and beverages to medical marijuana dispensaries and retail stores.

A Dixie Elixirs executive termed the suit "frivolous" and said 
written evidence exists that Bridge Marketing was happy with the 
mints' packaging after Dixie changed it earlier this year.

Gabrel "was very complimentary in his praise after the repackaging," 
said Chuck Smith, chief operating officer of Dixie Elixirs. "Gary was 
a willing participant in those discussions" that led to the 
repackaging, Smith said.

The legal dispute is unfolding in the wake of two high-profile deaths 
that may have connections to edible marijuana. In one case, a Denver 
man is believed to have purchased THC-infused candies and may have 
consumed them just prior to allegedly shooting his wife to death. In 
the other case, a college student jumped to his death from a Denver 
hotel balcony after eating six times the recommended dose of a 
marijuana cookie.

Dixie Elixirs stopped distributing the mints after Bridge terminated 
the licensing agreement March 31, even though the product still was 
displayed on Dixie's website as recently as this week. Smith said 
Dixie has "every intention to come up with an even better product and 
introduce it under the Dixie brand."

Bridge and Dixie in 2012 entered into a deal in which Bridge granted 
a license to Dixie to sell MED-a-Mints to retail outlets in Colorado.

The suit alleges that the original "conspicuous and responsible 
packaging" for the mints was changed in a way that promoted the Dixie 
Elixirs brand more prominently than the MED-a-Mints name, while also 
removing the word "cannabis" from the label.

"There is no other information to warn consumers of the presence of 
cannabis," the suit said. "Rather, the packaging is suggestive of any 
other designer mint that consumers would purchase at Whole Foods or Starbucks."

However, archived photographs of the MED-a-Mints new packaging do 
show THC printed on the front label.

Smith said Dixie Elixirs may file a defamation countersuit against 
Bridge Marketing.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom