Raw deal for Republic Brands this week as seven-year court battle between them and HBI International comes to a close.
The parent company of OCB rolling papers has been ordered to pay $1.5 million to HBI - the makers of RAW skins. The family-owned company is cited for infringing on the RAW copyright and trade dress.
Josh Kesselman, the founder of Vancouver-based HBI, said in a statement:
“Republic has persistently filed lawsuit after lawsuit against our company, perhaps because of our success. We intend to donate the net proceeds we will receive, now that this case is resolved, to organizations working to help small businesses in the cannabis field, particularly businesses that are startups involving individuals who were previously convicted of nonviolent cannabis-related crimes. We’re hopeful that Republic will now cease its relentless effort to destroy our business and focus, like us, on helping the emerging cannabis industry achieve greater equity in the marketplace.”
Rewind to Republic's trademark and copyright violations in the 2016 Case
Kesselman is referring to the 2016 case when HBI got in touch with Republic to draw attention to the similarity between Republic's OCB Organic Hemp paper packaging, which debuted in 2011, and RAW's Organic Hemp product packaging, which was introduced three years prior. HBI called them out for the OCB Organic Hemp product's packaging and marketing. They were similar. Republic launched it in the United States in 2014. HBI requested that the companies speak about the situation, but Republic sued its rival in federal court in Illinois, claiming that it had not infringed on any rights.
Fast forward to the 2021 ruling
In 2021, a jury recorded a guilty charge on Republic for willful infringement of RAW Organic Hemp trade dress, including its copyrighted "Sold Here" sign and paid the company more than $1 million. The jury found none of RAW's product statements violated the Lanham Act, but they found in Republic's side sitting unfair competition and violation of the Illinois Deceptive Trade Practices Act based on the same factual allegations.
A Republic Brands spokesperson referred to the recent press release by HBI International as a "new and misleading spin on an old ruling" and an "attempt to deflect" from the fact that HBI was found guilty in February of “violating the Illinois uniform deceptive trade practices act and the law of unfair competition by constantly making false and misleading statements for more than a decade.”
“BBK Tobacco (dba. HBI International) is not a victim or a victor in this matter — a federal jury found BBK Tobacco guilty of violating the Illinois uniform deceptive trade practices act and the law of unfair competition by consistently making false and misleading statements for more than a decade.”
The takeaway here is that HBI doesn’t sell out, so says Kesselman
Kesselman expressed his hope that the ruling will put an end to Republic's protracted legal woes. “It’s an extreme but familiar business strategy – sue the competition. They’ve filed hundreds of other lawsuits against other competitors and customers. Thankfully, with the continued support of our customers, we are successful enough to afford to fight off these claims and shine a critical light on Republic’s business practices. We should compete in innovation, not litigation. We are NEVER GOING TO SELL OUT TO REPUBLIC.”
