Gorilla Glue adhesive company and well-know weed strain “Gorilla Glue” have reached a settlement in the trademark infringement case brought by the glue maker against the developers of the GG marijuana strains.
Under the agreement, GG Strains and licensees of their numbered strains—initially named Gorilla Glue #1, #4 and #5—have agreed not to use that name and not use use any gorilla imagery or other similarities to Gorilla Glue Co., according to documents filed in an Ohio federal court, where Gorilla Glue is located.
GG Strains will also have to shut down its gorillaglue4.com website and transfer the domain name to Gorilla Glue the adhesive company by Jan. 1, 2020.
Other terms of the settlement include an agreement that the companies will not disparage each others’ companies, services or actions. GG Strains was given 12 months to remove the word “Gorilla,” the gorilla image and “Gorilla” trademarks.
Starting in mid-December, GG Strains has to use the words “formerly known as” when describing its brands on their website, which it has already started doing, along with a public announcement of the results of the court case.
All affiliated companies, dispensaries, cultivators and other partners also have to stop using the word “gorilla,” and gorilla imagery.
The settlement did not involve any monetary transactions between the two companies, according to attorneys for both sides.
“I hope that other industry participants will respect these companies’ resolution of the matter,” said Tom Hankinson, lawyer for the adhesives Gorilla Glue, told the Cannabist. “I can’t comment specifically on Gorilla Glue’s future activities, but it has invested a great deal in the Gorilla Glue brand.”
GG Strains officials are busily contacting partners and licensees and coming up with new names to rebrand their products, said company CEO Catherine Franklin.
Ross Johnson, co-founder of GG Strains and Gorilla Glue, estimated the dispute and the ongoing rebranding efforts cost the firm $250,000.
“We’re going to survive; we’re going to overcome it,” Johnson told the Cannabist on Wednesday. “Is it a setback? Most definitely, it is a setback. But it’s all behind us now, and it’s allowing us to move forward.”
The name of this award-winning strain, Gorilla Glue, came from the stickiness of its trichomes, and their tendency to “glue” the scissors together during the trimming process. This particular case of intellectual property infringement is the second in recent months. Buds R Us dispensary in Detroit was obliged by Toys “R” Us to change its name or be sued. The owner of the dispensary agreed to change its name and logo, which was the beloved Toys “R” Us Geoffrey the Giraffe smoking a big fat joint.
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