On August 12, a Canadian court issued an order enjoining three online cannabis dealers from selling THC-infused candy packaged with a logo that is “almost identical” to the official Skittles design. Additionally, the cannabis dealers must pay the plaintiff a total of $144,600 which includes $15,000 for violations of Canada’s Trademarks Act, $30,000 in punitive damages, and $3,200 in court costs.
When issuing the order, Justice Patrick K. Gleeson, condemned the defendants for “organiz[ing] their online activities in a manner that protects their anonymity.”
He writes,
I agree with the Plaintiff and find the Defendants’ efforts to remain anonymous support the conclusion that they had knowledge of the unlawful nature of their activity…I also find that advertising and offering for sale of a potentially dangerous product using appropriated trademarks that are evidently and obviously attractive to children represents a marked departure from ordinary standards of decent behaviour that deserves to be denounced and deterred.
Gleeson also noted in his ruling that, according to the plaintiff’s pleadings, Mars first learned of the cannabis-infused Skittles in 2021 following the “hospitalization of a child in Ontario who mistakenly consumed the Infringing Product.”
Law Office of Justin R. McCarthy 