CBD Coffee? This Maine Company Insists It Has the Trademark

For a 25-year-old coffee brand in Maine, the cannabis compound CBD is more than just a trendy ingredient. It’s a trademark.

Mary Allen Lindemann and Alan Spear opened Coffee By Design in 1994, selling coffee and espresso in an area of Portland once known as a “porn district.” Within a few years, the coffee shop had a nickname among locals: “CBD.” For a while, that wasn’t an issue. The company opened four other locations in Maine and branched out into wholesale, selling its beans as far away as Tokyo.

Things started to change when Maine legalized marijuana in 2016, part of the broader loosening of cannabis regulations around the U.S. This brought attention to a little-known compound called cannabidiol, or CBD—a component of pot and hemp that doesn’t get you high but can treat ailments like anxiety and insomnia, according to proponents.

Soon, Portland coffee shops began selling CBD, charging customers to add a few drops to their java. Signs appeared around town offering “CBD coffee” and customers started asking Coffee By Design if they had the other CBD.

Read the full article at Bloomberg